owing received an
amount of attention which diminished greatly in after years. The
authors fully realized that an orchard under tillage causes apple
trees to grow as fast again as under grass, and this was well
understood and practised in Kent, where crops of corn were grown
between the trees.

A Devonshire 'cyderist' urged that orchards should be well sheltered
from the east winds, which 'bring over the narrow sea swarms of
imperceptible eggs, or insects in the air, from the vast tracts of
Tartarian and other lands, from which proceeded infinite numbers of
lice, flies, bugs, caterpillars, cobwebs, &c.' The best protection
was a screen of trees, and the best tree for the purpose, a perry pear
tree. In the hard frosts of 1709, 1716, and 1740 great numbers of
fruit and other trees had been destroyed. In Devon what was called the
'Southams method' was used for top-dressing the roots of old apple
trees, which was done in November with soil from the roads and
ditches, or lime or chalk, laid on furze sometimes, 6 inches thick,
for 4 or 5 ft. all round the trees. Great attention was paid there to
keeping the heads of fruit trees in good order, so that branches did
not interfere with each other,[435] and the heads were made to spread
as much as possible. Many of the trees were grown with the first
branches commencing 4 ft. 6 in. from the ground. It was claimed that
Devon excelled all other parts of England in the management of fruit
trees, a reputation that was not maintained, according to the works of
half a century later. The best cider apple In the county then was the
White-sour, white in colour, of a middling size, and early ripe; other
good ones were the 'Deux-Anns, Jersey, French Longtail, Royal Wilding,
Culvering, Russet, Holland Pippin, and Cowley Crab.' In Herefordshire
it was the custom to open the earth about the roots of the apple trees
and lay them bare and exposed for the 'twelve days of the Christmas
holidays', that the wind might loosen them. Then they were covered
with a compost of dung, mould, and a little lime. 'The best way' to
plant was to take off the turf and lay it by itself, then the next
earth or virgin mould, to be laid also by itself. Next put horse
litter over the bottom of the hole with some of the virgin mould on
that, on which place the tree, scattering some more virgin mould over
the roots, then spread some old horse-dung over this and upon that the
turf, leaving it in a basin shape. The ground