STARTING THE ORCHARD 41 



wonderful. There are mysteries connected with it. 

 He approaches the work with fear and doubting, and 

 with the feeling that failure lies much nearer than 

 success. The old orchardist has learned that it is 

 very difficult to kill a good tree. If anything like 

 reasonable attention is paid to it, it is sure to thrive. 

 Trees seem to grow with a very free will for an ex- 

 perienced tree planter. The inexperience of the 

 novice shows in every movement. He takes much 

 more time and pains in planting his trees than the ex- 

 pert does, though it seems doubtful if he gets any 

 better result. When large orchards are to be planted 

 the expense of setting the trees is a considerable item. 

 The practical orchardist, therefore, economizes at this 

 point, but never in such a way as to lose money by it. 

 In planting a large number of trees economy of time 

 demands an organization of the work and a clear 

 fore-established plan for conducting the operations. 

 The work must be arranged in such a way that it can 

 be done expeditiously and at the same time properly. 



Having decided on the scheme of planting to be 

 adopted, there are various ways of carrying out the 

 planting plan. The man who delights in clean, 

 straight rows is apt -to take considerable pains in laying 

 off the field. Sometimes a surveyor is employed with 

 his transit to run off the lines. The writer has sev- 

 eral times seen this done and has tried it himself, but 

 does not recommend it. 



The next most accurate method consists in smooth- 

 ing the ground thoroughly, and then going over it 

 with a marker hauled by a steady horse and driven by 

 a careful man. In this way the rows may be located 

 with considerable exactness; and if there are small 

 kinks in the line they can easily be straightened out 



