Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

CLYDESDALE.
235
CLYDESDALE, or Strathclyde, the vale—
as the name implies — through which the river just
described flows. Its topographical features have
been sketched in the preceding article ; and the reader
is referred to our general article on Lanarkshire
for further information on the agriculture and statis-
tics of the district. In the present article, however,
we shall give a brief account of the far-famed Clydes-
dale orchards. These lie mostly between the bot-
tom of the lowest fall of the river, and the mouth of
the South-Calder ; or perhaps, from the foot of the
Mouse water to Bothwell castle, a distance of 16
miles. At the upper end of this district, the bed of
the river is about 200 feet above sea-level ; at the
lower end it does not exceed 50. This region
is well-protected against the cold easterly haars,
which are so injurious to vegetation; and hoar-
frosts or mildews are seldom felt here. The orch-
ards are chiefly of apple-trees, with a mixture of pears
and plums. Cherries are more rarely cultivated,
being so much subject to the depredations of birds.
Few of the orchards are large: many of them are
mere cottage-orchards. They were stated in the
'Agricultural Eeport' of 1793, to amount to 200
acres ; and in that of 1806, to be upwards of 250 acres ;
while the total extent of orchards in the county
exceeded 340 acres. At present they amount to
1,200 acres, including in this estimate the small
gardens and cottage-orehards in and around Hamil-
ton. The produce is very precarious, the fruit be-
ing frequently destroyed in the blossom by sprir.g-
frosts and caterpillars. In some years, such as 1818,
the whole value of the orchards betwixt Lanark and
Hamilton has amounted to upwards of £6,000. Even
in the years 1801 and 1804, the value of the fruit from
the different orchards exceeded £5,000 each year ;
but this was not so much owing to an increase of
fruit from orchards lately planted — few of them hav-
ing arrived at any perfection of fruit-bearing — as to
a gradual rise in the price of fruit, and both those
years being very productive ones. A remarkable
instance is mentioned of the fruit produced on balf-
an-acre of ground, in the former year, bringing
£150 to the dealer who carried it to market. The
value of the fruit is not always in proportion to the
number and size of the trees. Those who cultivate
the ground around the trees, taking care not to in-
jure the roots, and giving manure from time to time,
have finer fruit, and a much greater quantity in pro-
portion, than those who do not. Much also depends
on adapting the trees to the soil and exposure.
Though the different kinds of apples, &c. are gener-
ally engrafted on the same kinds of stocks, each as-
sumes the habits peculiar to the scion. Those who
have been attentive in observing this, and choosing
the kinds best adapted to their situation, have found
their account in it. B ut it ought not to be under-
stood that the choice of the stock is of no import-
ance. Native crabs are the hardiest, and prove the
most durable trees. Codling stocks, and those
raised from the seeds of good fruit, generally pro-
duce also finer fruit; but the trees seem to be more
subject to disease. The causes which produce the phe-
nomena occurring in the orchard are so intricate and
incomprehensible, that the most attentive and acute
cultivator can neither avert the injuries and maladies
to which the trees are liable, nor cure those that are
diseased. There is, indeed, no general principle to
direct the cultivator of the orchard ; all must de-
pend on a long course of topical experience, by
which the kinds of fruit-trees which have been
found to thrive and bear best in any particular spot
may be known and selected. The Clydesdale or-
chards are mostly planted on steep hanging-banks ;
on such they have \men found to succeed better than
on plains. The abrupt banks of the Clyde, espe-
cially on the north side, are ill-adapted for any other
agricultural purpose, as the expense of labour and
manure would hardly be repaid by the crop. On the
other hand, the excellent exposure, and general sharp-
ness of the soil, render these banks an object of im-
portance in the eye of the cultivator of fruit. Most
of the orchards are on cohesive soils, and on such the
trees have been supposed to be surer bearers than
on open sandy soils ; yet there are instances of very
productive orchards on friable and gravelly soils.
The apple-tree in general succeeds on a pretty hard
soil, provided the bottom be dry ; but when the roots
penetrate a subsoil holding stagnant water, or greatly-
charged with the oxide of iron, the tree fails. The
pear-tree requires a soil of greater depth, and more
soft and moist ; and will thrive in a subsoil where
the apple fails. It also yields fruit earlier, lives to a
greater age, and arrives at a greater size and more
towering height than the apple-tree. A single pear-
tree has been known to yield 60 sleeks of fruit, at
50 lbs. per sleek;* and there is a Longueville pear-
tree at Milton-Lockhart, said to be 300 years old.
The plum-tree does not succeed in the very stiff
cohesive soils; it requires a considerable depth of
dry friable mould. Its district extends to about 3
miles on either side of Dalserf. All the fruit-
trees which have been engrafted are more delicate
than those in a natural state, and require a more
attentive culture. Plum-trees are generally planted
round the verge of the orchard, and ?ire profit-
able, not only for 'the fruit they bear, but from
the shelter they afford the other trees. All fruit-
trees require shelter, and do best when they are
embosomed in woods. " Considerable diversitv
of opinion," says a writer in the ' Journal of Agri-
culture,' [vol. iv. p. 826,] "prevails in Lanark-
shire as to how far the fruit-trees should stand
from each other; and errors have been run into both
in planting too near and too sparse. In the Dalziel
orchards, and some others, the rows of trees are 22
feet apart, and 11 feet distance in the rows. The
trees in the orchard at West-Brownlee are closer.
In the new orchard on the estate of Wishaw, the
rows are at 30 feet distance, and the trees 15 feet
from each other in the rows. On the Coltness
estate the rows are 27 feet, and the trees 10A feet
from one another in the rows. Some, however, are
sparser ; and in some of the oldest orchards the trees
are irregularly planted. In general, however, they
are planted closer than is usually done in the English
orchards. It is a common practice in the Clydes-
dale orchards to plant an early bearer alternately
with other trees in the rows ; and some plant goose-
berry and currant bushes between the trees ; while
others raise only potatoes, oats," &c. Upon the
whole, though the produce of the orchard is preca-
rious, when the original insignificance of the grounds
on which fruit-trees succeed is considered, and the
ready sale and high price which the manufacturing
towns afford for fruit, an orchard planted with judg-
ment and carefully cultivated is certainly a profitable
possession. On the other hand, the depredations
committed on the orchards have become more fre-
quent and daring as the manufactures and population
of the county have increased, and are a great dis-
couragement to this species of cultivation, particu-
larly that of small orchards, which cannot defray the
expense of watching during the night. Besides the
larger fruit, great quantities of gooseberries and cur-
rants are here cultivated, and, when well-managed,
are said to pay very well. The gooseberry and cur-
* A sleek of plums weighs CO lbs. ; and of apples, 40 lb--:.
Tlie. fruit boll contains 20 sleeks. The present average market
price of Clydesdale fruit is 50s. per boIL