286 PLANTING. 



ARTICLE 2. 



THE MORE COMMON FORMS OF REGULAR PLANTING. 



On hilly ground the same disposition must be followed as in the 

 case of sown patches (see pages 265 and 266). 



On level ground all figures with unequal angles or more than 

 four sides, which would be extremely difficult to lay out, should 

 be avoided. Accordingly, whatever the variation in smaller de- 

 tails may be, the arrangement of the plants will always be referri- 

 ble to one of the three following elementary systems : 



(1) The rectangle (Fig. 98;. 



(2) The square (Fig. 99), and 



(3) The equilateral triangle (Fig. 100). 



If in the square arrangement, a fifth plant is put down in the 

 middle of each square, we obtain the quincunx form. The check 

 pattern, of which Fig. 102 gives one form, is another variation of 

 the square system. The fifth plant in every quincunx and the 

 interior plants in each check in Fig. 102 are especially well-placed 

 for protection against injurious climatic influences and for being 

 drawn up in height and forming a long clean bole. 



Plants may also be put out in groups of three, four or five, each 

 group forming an equilateral triangle, square or quincunx, and the 

 whole being arranged on the square or rectangular pattern. 



In the following sub-article dealing with details, it will suffice to 

 consider only the three elementary forms, assuming that only a 

 single plant is put down at each angle. 



1. Respective numbers of planting spots in the three 



elementary forms. 



THE RECTANGULAR PATTERN. In this pattern there are two 

 different distances between the spots, viz. a and b, and in defining 

 these distances, it is usual to say that the plants are put down 

 a feet apart in lines b feet apart, or, more shortly a' X b'. 



To determine the number of planting spots (see Fig. 98), let A and 



B be the two sides of a rectangular piece of ground to be planted up. 



A 

 Then + 1 = number of planting spots in each line 



D 



and -T- + 1 = of lines of spots ; and the total number 

 of planting spots will be 

 A B X 1 AB A B 



" X 



