46 



ESTABLISHING THE ORCHARD 



probably by the spring-tooth or the smoothing harrow, whichever 

 is available. And lastly the land should be gone over with a 

 planker to smooth it off for laying out (Fig. 11). This can be 

 omitted of course but it is worth the cost to secure the extra 

 comfort in walking over the field and the greater accuracy in 

 laying off the orchard. 



There are three general methods or plans of arranging the 

 trees in the orchard. There is first the square method in which 

 each tree stands at the corner of a square. This is by all means 



Fig. 11. — Finishing the land with a planker before beginning to lay off the orchard. This 

 leaves the surface smooth, making it possible to stake out more easily and accurately. 



the most connnon metiiod and has the practical advantage that 

 it is an easy method to lay off. Then there is the triangular 

 or quincunx method, which is like the square with the addition 

 that a tree is placed in the centre of each of the squares. This 

 tree is usually a temporary one or " filler " and there are just 

 as many of these as of the permanents. And lastly we have 

 what is known as the hexagonal method, where each tree stands 

 in the centre of a hexagon formed by six trees and is equally 

 distant from each one of them. This last method has the great 



