ORCHARDS. 79 



view6 of Mr. Christ, under the same head, who recommends 

 three rods by two and a half, under certain modifications, as 

 the proper distance between the trees. 



Coles, in his American Fruit Book, says, "As to the dis- 

 tance between apple trees, much depends on circumstances. 

 A person wanting many kinds on a small space, should set 

 thick and shorten in the limbs as they interfere, and in due 

 time cut away the poorest trees. In general, orchard culture 

 thirty to thirty-three feet is a good distance. Some set forty 

 feet apart, but it allows only about twenty-eight trees to the 

 acre, and will be a long time, if ever, before they cover the 

 land. When set two rods apart, peach, plum, or cherry trees 

 may be set between them ; and in most cases these trees will 

 flourish, bear and fail, before the apple trees will need the 

 room. In devoting land w^holly to the apple, Vv^e would put 

 100 trees on an acre (almost twenty-one feet apart), and they 

 would bear many years before interfering, and then cut away 

 the poorest trees." 



We close this article with a quotation from Coxe, an authority 

 of the highest reputation on the cultivation and management 

 of orchards: "The first thing to be determined upon in the 

 planting of an orchard is, the proper distance of the trees ; 

 if a mere fruit plantation be the object, the distance may be 

 small; if the cultivation of grain be in view (we object to 

 that), the space between the trees must be wider; at 30 feet 

 apart an acre will contain 48 trees; at 35 feet, 35 trees; at 

 40 feet, 27 trees; and at 50 feet, about. 18 trees to the acre. 

 It will probably be found that 40 feet is the most eligible dis- 

 tance for a farm orchard. It will admit sufficient sun and air 

 in our dry, warm climate ; and, until the trees shall be fully 

 grown, will allow of a profitable application of the ground to 

 the cultivation (of other crops) grain and grass.* In the ar- 

 rangement of an orchard^ 2?Iant each kind in distinct contigu- 

 ous rows." 



"^In yards and lawns, where grass must be cultivated among the trees, 

 a space some three or four yards in diameter around the trees should be 

 kept clear of grass, and may be dug up, mulched, and manured, thereby 

 accelerating the growth of the trees, improving the quality of the fruit, 

 and protecting from injury the portion that falls to the ground. 



