74 An American Fruit-Farm 



Strawberries i foot apart in the row; the rows 



apart for cultivation with a horse, — 

 say 3 feet at least. 



Grapes 8 feet apart in the row; the rows 



9 feet apart, so as to admit modern, 

 two-horse tools, sprayer, grape 

 wagon, etc. 



The essential problem in planting is twofold: 

 to secure feeding and breathing space for the tree 

 and ample room for cultivation with horses and 

 modern tools. An apple tree will grow fifty feet 

 high, but fruit at that height is out of reach. So 

 too a cherry tree, a plum or prune or peach, will 

 grow too high for practical use. Any tree which 

 must be picked with use of a painter's ladder 

 instead of an ordinary, commercial, picking ladder, 

 costs more than it is worth. A fruit-tree must 

 be kept low, and therefore out-spreading. This 

 means ample space and wide planting. No man 

 ever regrets giving his trees sufficient space in 

 which to fruit low. Ground fruit, such as berries 

 and all vegetables, must be planted according to 

 the care they are to receive. In Germany, and in 

 Europe generally, all labor in the field is by hand, 

 and therefore the space between rows is narrow, — 

 usually little more than the width of the hoe for 

 vegetables. In America hand labor is unusual, — 

 is too costly. All work is done with a horse, or, 

 on most farms, with a team. Twenty years ago 

 tools, such as cultivators, drags, plows, and spray- 

 ing-machines (if any) , were small, light, and narrow. 



