ORCHARD

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) An enclosure devoted to the culture of fruit trees. The most productive orchards are generally such as are situated on declivities open to the south or south east, and sheltered from the north, north-east, and west. The most suitable soil is a calcareous loam with a dry subsoil. The climate of orchards so situated is always wanner than any other kind of situation which this country affords, and the subsoil is more certain of being dry. The surface of the soil, in the case of orchards so situated, is generally kept under pasture; which, while it prevents the earth from being wasted away by rains, is favorable to the running of the roots immediately under the surface, by which they are sooner called into action by heat In spring, and sooner thrown into a torpid state bv cold in autumn. The principal fruits grown in orchards of this description in Great Britain are the apple, the pear, the plum, and the cherry, and. wherever wheat can be ripened In the plains, these fruits will arrive at perfection on declivities such as we have mentioned. [s. 870]