210 



The Principles of Fruit-growing 



"It appears to be doubtful if there is any gain in using the quincunx 

 system rather than the square system. In the small plat of twenty- 

 five trees there is no gain, but a decided loss, when the trees are 

 planted the same distance apart. There is, however, an evident and 

 great gain when an extra tree is added to the center of each square. 

 To any person with the most rudimentary notion of geometry it is 

 evident that there is no essential difference between the quincunx 



FIG. 58. Twenty-iive trees planted according to quincunx system. 

 Trees are 25 feet from nearest neighbor. 



system and tKe square system. In the first case, the rows run diago- 

 nally with the outside boundary, while in the second, they run at 

 right angles, or parallel with the outside boundary. In both cases 

 the trees are arranged in squares. Any one with an orchard planted 

 on the square system can change it to the quincunx system by cut- 

 ting off the corners until the outside boundary again becomes a rec- 

 tangle with lines diagonal with the original boundary lines. It is 

 thus evident that any gain in the number of trees put on a given area, 

 by the quincunx rather than the square system, must be made either 

 by closer fitting in the margin of the field, or else by putting the trees 

 closer together. An examination of Fig. 57, where an equal feed- 



