222 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



tree in the row, beginning with number one; or, some pre- 

 fer to number all the trees in the plantation consecutively. 

 It is an excellent plan for the grower to devote a large 

 blank-book or record to each plantation, entering the plan 

 of the area in the earlier pages, and then recording the 

 yield of each tree or each row on consecutive pages devoted 

 to the different years. Such a book would be to the 

 orchard what the Babcock test is to the dairy, a means 

 of determining the profitable and unprofitable individuals. 

 If such a record were kept, it would not be many years 

 before the orchardist would be experimenting with a 

 goodly number of his trees in order to determine how to 

 make them as productive as are the best ones. 



Labels. 



Of labels there are endless devices, but no label 

 can be expected to last in good condition more than 

 six or eight years. For temporary or annual plants, where 

 little horse work is done, the commercial garden stakes, 

 12 by 1J4 inches, are excellent. These cost, when painted 

 and made of soft, clear pine, $5 to $6 a thousand. For a 

 more permanent stake label, one cut from clear pine, 2 

 feet long, 3J^ inches wide, 1J^ inches thick, and sawed to 

 a point, is one of the best. These are given two thin coats 

 of white lead, care being taken not to pile them on their 

 faces until thoroughly dry, to avoid a rough surface for 

 the pencil. The record may be made by a large, soft 

 pencil, like a carpenter's pencil, or by a brush and black 

 paint; but for all annual crops the pencil will be found 

 more serviceable. At the end of the season, or when the 

 record becomes dim, a thin shaving is taken off the face 

 of the label, it is repainted, and used again. The label is 

 thick enough to allow of many annual dressings, while the 



