A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 39 



DONOVAN'S QUINCUNX PI,AN. With your permission I will briefly 

 describe my method of laying out an orchard, which I have found to work 

 well. I prefer the quincunx order in planting, as that method enables us to 

 plant the largest possible number of trees on any given area, having the trees 

 all the same distance apart. Each tree, by my method, is exactly the same 

 distance from six other trees, as shown in the following plat: 



B 



The tree at o is equidistant from six .others, instead of four, and of course 

 by extending the plat, each and every tree would be the centre of a circle of six 

 trees. 



Now as to the laying out. I take three strips of sheeting or batting, three 

 inches wide, and twenty-four feet long (for apples,) make a triangle, each side 

 being twenty -four feet; have the strips overrun about six inches, so that the 

 ends will project three inches and form a notch, as per illustration. 



I fasten the strips with a pin or bolt. With one man to help carry the 

 triangle, and a boy to carry an armful of small stakes, we proceed to work. 

 Commencing on the base line at A in the diagram we lay the triangle on the 

 line A B, being careful to place the first stakes c and d true to the base line; a 

 stake is placed at <?, then we move the triangle forward and set another stake 

 at /'and at o ; if care is taken to keep the base line perfectly straight the stake 

 will be true on the next line, and you can go over a large area in a day in that 



