52 FRUIT-GROWING 



will be surprised at the number of stakes re- 

 quired. A thousand stakes make quite a pile — 

 enough to keep the kitchen range going for 

 several days, even in cold weather when the 

 whole family tends fire. I have always thought 

 that a stake for every tree was a refinement 

 that was scarcely worth the trouble and ex- 

 pense which it costs, and after having planted 

 a good many thousand trees I am still of that 

 opinion. If the men who are planting the trees 

 use their wits they can get the trees planted a 

 lot straighter than the staked trees will be at 

 the end of five years. In any orchard there are 

 always trees that will lean one way or another, 

 and one that is out of line an inch or two will 

 never be noticed at the time the trees bear their 

 first fruit. 



It is necessary to have some sort of a base 

 line for the planters to work from, and I have 

 not been able to get away from the use of a 

 double row of stakes which are used by the 

 planters in "sighting" the trees as they go in 

 the ground. To establish these base lines I use 

 a surveying instrument to locate the position 

 and direction of my first line of trees. These 

 trees are all staked with a pole six or eight 

 feet high, — a straight "bean pole" answers 

 nicely. A second row is then located parallel 

 to this. The planter is then furnished with a 

 measuring-rod cut exactly ten feet long which 



