ANOTHER METHOD 49 



pose. There is a notch at either end of each board. Figures 12 

 and 13 will serve to explain the method. The measuring boards 

 can be handled more easily if they are fastened together with a 

 small bolt. 



It will surprise any one who has never seen this method used 

 to find how quickly and accurately the stakes can be set (Fig. 

 14), and it does not require high-priced labor, either. Any good 

 man with a little interest in his work will do it admirably. On 

 a farm in which the writer is interested one hundred and twenty- 

 five acres of orchard have been laid out by this 



STAKE !- 



method and most of it was done by Polanders, many 



of whom could speak no English. They were simply 



' ' shown, ' ' and the proprietors of the orchard would be 



glad to have any one who doubts the efficiency of the method 



visit the place. 



Planting Board. By this method a stake is set at 

 every point to be occupied by a tree, and the next point 

 is to be sure that the tree is established in the identical 

 spot where the stake stood. To do this a device known as a 

 " planting board " is used (Fig. 15). This is simply a 

 board, perhaps five feet long and six inches wide, with a 

 notch cut in either end and one at the exact centre. This 

 board is placed on the ground so that the tree stake comes 

 in the central 



stake is driven 



FIG. 13. Diagram of measuring boards. Drawn to scale. 



down in each of 



the end notches and the board is removed and a hole dug for 

 the tree where the central stake stood. When it comes time to 

 set the tree, whether that be the same day or a week later, the 

 board is put back into place, the tree slipped into the central 

 notch, the earth shovelled in, and there the tree stands just where 

 it is wanted. In setting an orchard of any size it is necessary to 

 have several of these planting boards, and care should be taken 

 to see that they are all exactly alike. 



Another method which the writer has used with great satis- 

 faction and which is particularly good when the trees are a 



4 



