15^ The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Distance Apart for Planting. — It is impossible to state any particular dis- 

 tance apart for planting which would be suitable for all conditions. The rule 

 should be to allow space enough so that when the trees are full grown the tops 

 will be a few feet apart, This allows the free admission of sunlight so necessary 

 in producing well-colored fruit. The ultimate size of a tree will depend much 

 upon the variety, and the soil upon which it is grown. Varieties such as the 

 Ben Davis or Ontario, for instance, require much less room than large growing 

 varieties such as the Greening or Baldwin, while a tree of any given variety will 

 grow much larger or smaller than usual according as it is grown on richer or 

 poorer soil. The best guide to intending planters is to observe the distances 

 apart of full-grown thrifty trees in the neighborhood. These will be found to 

 vary with different varieties in different sections all the way from twenty-five feet 

 in the case of the smaller growing varieties to forty feet in the case of those 

 varieties that spread. The average distance will be about thirty feet. It will be 

 found to be better to keep them a little too far apart rather than to crowd 

 them. 



Arrangement of Trees. — There are several methods of arranging the tree& 

 in an orchard. The one usually adopted is the square ; most used no doubt 

 because many do not know of a better. By this arrangement the trees are 

 planted in rows the same distance apart each way, four trees forming a square. 

 A much better plan is what is known as the hexagonal. By this system fifteen 

 per cent, more trees can be grown per acre without the least bit more crowding 

 — no small item when we consider that the profits per acre are inrceased accord- 

 ingly. By the hexagonal arrangement the trees in the second row are set alter- 

 nating with those in the first ; six trees forming a hexagon and enclosing a 

 seventh in the centre. To ascertain the correct position for the first tree in the 

 second row, and consequently the distance apart of the rows that way of the 

 orchard, take two strings the same length as the distance apart at which the 

 trees are to be planted, fasten the end of one to the first and the other to the 

 second stake in the first row, then stretch the free ends out till they meet, this 

 point will mark the position for the first tree in the second row. 



Whichever method of arrangement is adopted the trees should be set in- 

 perfectly straight lines, the first tree, no matter which way we look, hiding every 

 other tree in the row. Crooked rows are not only an eyesore, but during culti- 

 vation they endanger the lives of the trees as well as the morals of the man who 

 has to cultivate them. To assist in getting the rows straight, the position of 

 each tree should be marked by a little stake before the holes are dug. Then 

 when planting use a *' planting board." This may be five or six feet long and 

 six inches wide, with a notch in one side at the middle, just large enough to let 

 in the trunk of a small tree, and a hole at each end at equal distances from this 

 notch. When a hole is to be dug place this notch about the stake and put a 

 peg through each hole at the end. The board may then be taken up and the 

 hole dug. When the tree is to be planted replace the board over the pegs and 



