ii6 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



_ _ T»HOMAS 



Faulty Manuring 



moisture to the tree. It has been ac- 

 cepted generally as true that the roots 

 of a tree extend as far as the branches. 

 As a matter of fact they extend a vast 

 deal farther, often three times the dis- 

 tance, so that at the ordinary distance 

 of planting there is probably not a 

 square yard of soil in the orchard not 

 occupied by these feeding rootlets when 

 the tree is of a bearing age. Fig. 5 

 is a reproduction of the actual 

 root system of a young pear tree. 

 Prof. Bailey laid bare two roots on the one 

 side of this tree, and they extended twenty- 

 one feet. Assuming that the growth on 

 the other side corresponded, the total spread 

 would be forty-two feet, while the spread 

 of the top of the tree was but seven feet. 

 It will be readily seen, then, that the even 

 spreading of manure over the whole of the 

 orchard is distinctly the right practice. 



Laying Out the Orchard. — In lay- 

 ing out of a fruit plantation the appearance 

 of the orchard is far better, and the neces- 

 sary work is far more easily performed, if 

 the rows are straight and the trees at even 



distances. Of the many methods of laying out, one of the simplest, and one in which 

 the greatest accuracy is obtainable, is the following, illustrated by Fig. 6. 



Take a long wire. No. 12 will usually be the right size, (in small orchards a cord will 

 do) and mark off the required distance on it, either by a scratch of a file or by tying 

 on a piece of waxed thread. Let each end of the wire be attached to a strong stake. 

 A B C D represents the field. Measuring the distance from the fence where the first 

 row of trees is to start, stretch the base line F to G placing a small stake at each mark 

 on the wire. Take up the wire and in the same way stake out F H and H I. The 

 wire is then simply stretched from J to K and so on down the field, staking out as be- 

 fore. Quite small stakes, a few inches long do, as no sighting is required. With this plan 

 a planting board as in Fig. 7 is necessary. Take a strip five or six inches wide, and about 



