riated--as the apple. The fruit
garden, proper, may also contain the smaller fruits, as they are termed,
as the currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and whatever other shrub-fruits
are grown; while the quince, the peach, the apricot, nectarine, plum,
cherry, pear, and apple may, in the order they are named, stand in
succession behind them, the taller and more hardy growth of each
successive variety rising higher, and protecting its less hardy and
aspiring neighbor. The soil for all these varieties of tree is supposed
to be congenial, and our remarks will only be directed to their proper
distribution.

The aspect for the fruit garden should, if possible, front the south,
south-east, or south-west, in a northerly climate. In the Middle and
Southern States the exposure is of less consequence. Currants,
gooseberries, raspberries, &c., should, for their most productive
bearing, and the highest quality of their fruits, be set at least four
feet apart, in the rows, and the rows six feet distant from each other,
that there may be abundant room to cultivate them with the plow, and
kept clean of weeds and grass. The quince, peach, apricot, nectarine,
and plum should be 16 feet apart each way. The pear, if on quince stock,
may be 12 feet apart, and if on its own stock, 20 to 24 feet; while the
apple should always be 30 to 36 feet apart, to let in the requisite
degree of sun and air to ripen as well as give growth, color, and flavor
to its fruit. The tendency of almost all planters of fruit trees is to
set them too close, and many otherwise fine fruit gardens are utterly
ruined by the compact manner in which they are planted. Trees are great
consumers of the atmosphere; every leaf is a lung, inhaling and
respiring the gases, and if sufficient breathing room be not allowed
them, the tree sickens, and pines for the want of it; therefore, every
fruit tree, and fruit-bearing shrub should be so placed that the summer
sun can shine on every part of its surface at some hour of the day. In
such position, the fruit will reach its maximum of flavor, size, and
perfection.

The ground, too, should be rich; and, to have the greatest benefit of
the soil, no crops should be grown among the trees, after they have
arrived at their full maturity of bearing. Thus planted, and nursed,
with good selections of varieties, both the fruit garden and the orchard
become one of the most ornamental, as well as most profitable portions
of the farm.

In point of