TRANSPLANTING 6l 



worked a foot in depth of itself, yet after a good loosening 

 with the subsoil-plough, it may be at once extended down a 

 foot and a half. If this is done in the fall, and another good 

 ploughing given in spring, the whole will be in fine condition 

 for the reception of trees. Does this seem like a great deal 

 of cost and labor? It is the very cheapest way of obtaining 

 fine crops of the best fruit ; for the strong, long, and healthy 

 shoots which will run up even the first year, and the size, 

 beauty, and richness of the fruit soon afforded from such an 

 orchard, kept well cultivated during its early years, will as- 

 tonish those who have never seen any but slipshod culture. 



In setting out large orchards, if the whole field cannot be 

 deepened, a strip of land ten feet wide extending across the 

 orchard may be treated in the same way, in the centre of 

 which each row is to be set; and the intermediate spaces, 

 constituting two-thirds or more of the whole, may, if neces- 

 sary, be prepared afterward, by the time the roots have 

 passed the boundaries of the first. 



LAYING OUT ORCHARDS. ' 



Every one will admit that an orchard handsomely laid out 

 in perfectly straight rows is in every respect better than 

 where the trees are in crooked lines. An owner can feel nc- 

 pride in giving proper cultivation to an awkwardly planted 

 orchard : and trees standing out of line will be a constant an- 

 noyance to every ploughman who is in the practice of laying 

 perfectly even furrows. 



Some planters take great pains in setting their trees, so that 

 one tree at the end of the row will hide all the rest when the 

 eye ranges through the line. But in securing this desirable 

 object, a great deal of labor is often expended in sighting in 

 different directions while setting each successive tree, so that 

 every row may be straight every way. The following mode 

 of laying out and planting will not require one-twentieth of 

 the labor commonly devoted, may be performed under the 

 direction of any common workman, and will give rows that 

 will range perfectly, not only in both directions, but diago- 

 nally. The writer has found that two men would thus lay out 

 from thirty to forty acres in a day, with perfect precision for 

 planting. 



