PLANTING AND GROWING 



cause of being stunted, crooked, or poorly 

 grown should never be set. Thirds are seldom 

 worth considering at any price. 



Fillers. — Whether or not the planter of an 

 apple orchard should use fillers is a question 

 which he alone must decide. In the writer's 

 opinion there are more advantages than dis- 

 advantages in so doing, but we must state both 

 sides of the question and let the reader judge 

 for himself. The term " filler " is one used 

 to designate a tree planted In the orchard for 

 the temporary purpose of profitably occupying 

 the space between the permanent trees while 

 these are growing and not yet in bearing. 

 Fillers make a more complete use of the land, 

 bringing in larger as well as quicker returns 

 from it, three distinct advantages. (See Chap- 

 ter XII, The Cost of Growing Apples.) On 

 the other hand, objections to their use are that 

 they are often left in so long that they crowd 

 and seriously injure the permanent trees, and 

 that their care often requires different opera- 

 tions and at different times from the other trees, 

 such as spraying, which may result in injury to 

 the permanent trees in the orchard. 



Trees used as fillers for apples should have 

 two Important characteristics; they should be 

 35 



