The Different Systems 



193 



business confirms the advantages of the paper plan. The 

 roots forage far and wide and the so-called unoccupied places 

 may be the very areas in which they forage to best advan- 

 tage. It is also well to have broad open spaces of sunshine, 

 to facilitate the ripening and coloring of the fruit; and free 

 spaces are needed for the easy handling of large spray rigs, 

 heavy tillage tools, harvesting apparatus, and for use in 

 the packing of fruit and the piling of boxes and barrels. 



FIG. 43. A well-laid-out young orchard. Oregon. 



If land is high-priced or limited in extent, it may be 

 desirable to space all the trees at equal distances; but 

 such systems demand good land, heavier fertilizing, more 

 care in pruning, and they entail extra labor to the tree in 

 spraying when the trees begin to cover the ground. For the 

 general run of orchards, the rectangular or square form 

 of planting is undoubtedly to be recommended 



Experiments at Woburn, England, with plums grown 

 eleven years on the square and hexagonal systems, and 

 also on a rectangular arrangement with double the distance 

 between the rows as between the trees in the row, the 

 same number of trees being grown in a given area, gave 

 M 



