482 



BULLETIN 229. 



In the young orchards, 40 x 40 feet is the commonest distance 57 per 

 cent are set in this way. The average distance is 36.6 x 36.6 feet, but this 

 includes some that have been set more closely with the idea of removing 

 half. 



Much damage has resulted in the old orchards from this close planting. 

 In 347 acres, 8 per cent of the total area, half of the trees have been 

 removed, but there is 15 per cent more in which half of the trees should 

 be removed. That is, in one orchard in seven, half of the trees ought to 

 be cut out. In some this should have been done 10 years ago-. Some 



TABLE 15. 

 Distance between trees. 



have been almost ruined by the death of the lower limbs or by cutting 

 these limbs off. But in nearly all of this 15 per cent it would still pay 

 to cut out half of the trees. In those orchards where damage has riot 

 yet been done, the trees should be removed as soon as they begin to inter- 

 fere, before they have been damaged. For a further discussion of 

 thinning, see Bulletin 226. 



AGE OF THE ORCHARDS. 



Date of planting. Comparatively few orchards were set before 1860, 

 and these orchards were usually small ones, set more for the purpose of 

 supplying the family than for raising fruit to sell. Over eighty-one per 

 cent of the orchards were planted between 1860 and 1879. Planting then 



