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catch the little light there is at the top and instead of having a tree 

 with fine wide-spreading foliage, there is something closely resembling 

 a " swizzle stick." 



If height was all that was wanted for tapping then close planting 

 would be the correct thing, but, as gii'th of stem and lots of leaf ai-e 

 the main factors necessary to ensui-e pi'ofitable yields, close planting 

 undoubtedly fails. 



Fear of loss of crop through thinning should not deter any one 

 from tackling a closely planted field as, if the thinning is done while 

 the trees are fairly young, the remaining trees 'will quickly respond 

 to the improved conditions and the crop will soon i*each its normal 

 figui*e and pass it, while the longer thinning is delayed, the more 

 crop is to be lost. 



Disease too is a factor which has had a lot to say in the necessity 

 for thinning out. As has been already stated, light and air are 

 absolutely necessary for the well-being of the tree and nothing 

 is more conducive to the spread of disease than closeness and damp. 



Another advantage in wide planting is that after i-ain the surface 

 of widely planted trees dries much more quickly and allows tapping 

 to go on early, while sometimes with close planting tapping is 

 impossible for a few hours after a heavy shower. 



There is also the saving in labour and utensils, and I need not 

 go into details to show this, as previous papers on the subject have 

 dealt very fully with this point. It is obvious that if an acre with 

 say 100 trees yields the same amount as an acre with 200 trees, there 

 is a considerable saving in labour and only half the number of cups, 

 sponts, etc., are required, while the pei'centages of output are bound 

 to be to the advantage of the wider planted area, as there is half the 

 number of trees, spouts and cups to give " scrap." 



Methods of Thinning Out. 

 The difficult question for the planter to start with is whether to 

 thin out by selection or remove every alternate trefe if his original 

 planting allows of this. 



On one estate the original planting was 20 ft. X 20 ft. and in order 

 to get more trees to the acre this was interplanted with a quincunx, 

 thus '.•.•'. giving double the number of trees to the acre and if it 

 were found necessary to thin out, the quincunx could be removed. 



The necessity soon arose, and when it came to thinning out, the 

 ravages of Fomes, white ants, wind storms, etc., had been left out of 

 account and many quincunx trees had to be left in to make up blanks, 

 and it got so confusing in places that the original 20 x 20 line was 

 frequently mistaken for the quincunx. 



The theory is all right as a theory. 



In ordinary square planting the best method in my opinion is 

 by frequent selection. It takes much longer and seems to keep the 



