PLANTING THE TREES 53 



he carries with him. Measuring twenty feet, 

 (two rod lengths), from his first stake and 

 sighting until the two stakes are in line he can 

 locate the third tree row. We have had some 

 pretty stupid planters in our planting gangs 

 and I admit that they have sometimes "gone 

 wrong," but never so badly that we could not 

 easily correct the mistake. As a rule the men 

 take to this system very readily and it is sur- 

 prising how accurately they can plant an or- 

 chard and how quickly it can be done. 



"When the nursery trees arrive at the orchard 

 they should be unpacked at once unless the 

 weather is so cold that the ground is frozen. 

 In that case the boxes containing the trees 

 should if possible be placed in a cellar until 

 they thaw out. Lacking a cellar they should be 

 covered with straw and left unmolested until 

 the weather moderates. Frozen trees may not 

 be damaged if they thaw out slowly, but they 

 should not be handled while in that condition. 



When they are unpacked they should be 

 "heeled in" just as quickly as possible after 

 removal from the package. All reputable nurs- 

 eries use every care to see that their trees reach 

 the planter in good condition and the majority 

 of failures are due to carelessness or ignorance 

 on the part of the man who plants them. In no 

 case should the roots be allowed to become dry, 

 even for a few minutes. 



