ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 31 



inches wide, with a notch in the center of one edge of the board 

 large enough to receive the tree ; and near each end of the op- 

 posite edge of the board, and at equal distances from the notch 

 in the center, a notch large enough to receive a peg, or bore a 

 hole near each end. For the sake of convenience the notches 

 ought to be cut as in this illustration : 



Peg at A for the tree. Pegs at B and C. Place the board 

 on the ground with the notch A at the peg where the tree is to 

 stand, (this peg having been set when the wire was used as de- 

 scribed above) ; then set pegs at B and C. Be careful to place 

 the board on the same side of the pegs where the trees are to 

 stand. For instance, if the board be placed on the west side 

 of all the pegs marking the places where the trees are to stand, 

 the board will be on the east side of the pegs at B and C, and 

 no mistakes will occur in setting the trees. When the tree is to 

 be set the board must be placed to the same side of the pegs at 

 B and C as it was at the time of setting the pegs. 



In digging the hole for the tree, the peg at A must be re- 

 moved. The hole for the tree should be dug around the spot 

 marked by this peg, and equidistant from it. Be careful not to 

 disturb or cover the pegs at B and C. The pegs should be 

 about a foot long and an inch square. They can be made very 

 rapidly by sawing inch-boards into suitable lengths and split- 

 ting them into squares. The remaining part of the operation 

 belongs properly to "Transplanting to Orchard," and will be 

 found in the next chapter. 



It pays well to take time to stake an orchard so the rows will 

 be straight. If crooked or irregular, with here and there a tree 

 out of line, it will be extremely disagreeable to the artistic eye, 

 besides being more difficult to cultivate. When in straight 

 rows, the plow or the cultivator can be run close to the trees, 

 leaving little if anything to be done by hand. 



