PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 299 



in the pear orchard is not recommended. Dwarf pears are ordinarily 

 planted from 10 to 12 feet apart ; if the former distance, there would be 

 435 to the acre ; if the latter, there would be 302 per 



SYSTEMS FOR PLANTING. 



Four systems of planting trees, designated as square, triangular, quin- 

 cunx and* hexagonal, are well illustrated in Figs. 107, 108, 109, 110, after 

 Lelong. The first or square system is the most commonly used. Mark- 

 ing the area for planting is easiest under this system, and it has the 

 advantage of allowing plenty of room for hauling, cultivation and other 

 orchard operations between the rows in two directions in the relatively 

 wide spaces at right angles to each other. 



The hexagonal system is recommended by many, its chief advantage 

 being in the fact that every tree is equidistant from all adjacent trees, 

 and about 15 per cent more trees can be set to the acre. With this 

 system the space above ground occupied by the tops of the trees, and 

 below ground by the root systems, should be utilized to best advantage ; 

 but the absence of wide spaces between the rows makes it impractical 

 from the standpoint of many growers, as cultivation, hauling and all 

 other work of the orchard requiring the use of teams or tractors is 

 complicated. 



NUMBER OF TREES PER ACRE. 



In an acre of land there are 43,560 square feet, and in order to deter- 

 mine the number of trees required per acre if planted on the square, it 

 is only necessary to divide this number by the product of the distances 

 in feet that the trees are to be planted. For example, it is desired to 

 plant pears 20 x 20 feet on the square. The product of these distances 

 is 400, and 43,560 divided by 400 gives 108, the number of trees per 

 acre. If the hexagonal system of planting is used instead, and the same 

 distance is desired, there will be 124 trees to the acre, or an increase 

 of 15 per cent. 



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