258 



AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



Putting in the Trees. They are to be put in exactly 

 where the pegs are placed, the accompanying sketch shows 

 an ingenious contrivance for ensuring this. The "planting 

 board" (a) is a piece of deal about 6 feet long, with a 

 hole near each end ; a notch is cut in the middle. 

 To use this planter, place the middle notch against the first 

 peg, and then place a peg into each of the end holes as 

 in (a). The centre peg may then be lifted, and the 

 board moved round on one of the end pegs as seen 

 at (6). The hole is then dug between the pair of 

 pegs, and large enough to spread out the roots nicely. 

 When planting the tree, the board is again fitted 

 on to the two pegs, the tree is rested in the notch in the 

 board and it is then where the planting peg"] was placed. 

 When necessary, stakes are driven in after the holes are dug, 

 but, as a rule, trees are more hardy and vigorous when they 

 grow without the aid of stakes. 



Watering Newly-Planted Trees. In very dry 

 weather, it may be necessary, where possible, to damp the 

 soil in order to get it to lie close to the roots, but care has 

 to be used here also, for until the roots start into growth, 

 water may do more harm than good, by inducing fungus 

 growths to fix themselves upon the newly planted wood. 



Tree Planting. This work calls for all the care and 

 skill we can devote to' it. Distance apart, method in 

 planting, and preparation of the land all 

 have their effect. Two well-defined 

 methods of arranging trees for orchard- 

 ing are followed planting in squares or 

 in triangle. The triangle system offers 

 many advantages, as set off against the 

 somewhat greater difficulty of laying out 

 land for this kind of planting. Amongst 

 the advantages are the greater number 

 of trees per acre, and the increased 

 facilities for working the land with horse 

 labour, the land between the rows of 

 trees being workable in three or four directions. The 

 system also allows of planting on irregularly-shaped pieces 

 of laud, such as that shown in the third illustration. In 



