LAYING OUT THE GROUND. 71 



of convenience, when ploughing and cultivating the ground. 

 When one sets out fruit-trees in crooked rows, the little 

 crooks, which might have been avoided by a moment's f ore- 

 thought, often annoy through life, like mortifying mistakes 

 in one's moral career, which can never be corrected. Hence 

 the eminent importance of commencing correctly to mark 

 out the ground, so that every row shall be as straight as 

 can be desired. 



The proper Distance apart. Most persons when about to 

 plant apple-trees, unless they have exercised themselves to 

 think how much space an apple-tree, when full-grown, will 

 occupy, are liable to make egregious mistakes by setting 

 their trees decidedly too close in the rows. We have 

 known many intelligent farmers set their young apple-trees 

 only ten feet apart ! After one tree had been planted, a 

 distance of ten feet was measured from the tree, when an-" 

 other tree was set erect, and the eyes were glanced around 

 to measure the range of the branches. The first impres- 

 sion was, that the tops would scarcely fill the apparently 

 great area assigned to each tree. Hence trees were plant- 

 ed more than twice as close as they should be. The first 

 apple-trees that we ever transplanted were set about twen- 

 ty-seven feet apart. As we stood at our little tree as 

 boys are accustomed to, when setting out trees and look- 

 ed at those little whips, and then cast the eye about the 

 large area that must be filled before the branches would 

 touch each other, we thought, as a thousand other farmers 

 do who have planted their trees too close together, that we 

 should be an old man were life prolonged before the 

 branches would meet each other. But see how soon 



"Tall oaks from little acorns grow." 



Seventeen years after the little whips were planted, we 

 measured the height and breadth of the tops ; and the 



