PLANTING THE TREES 247 



with the plow. If the soil is light and poor, a heavy coat- 

 ing of manure before plowing will prove very beneficial. 

 Land for orchard planting should be prepared deeply and 

 thoroughly, as it is much more difficult and expensive to 

 improve a soil after the trees are set. 



Laying out the Orchard. For the small orchard, the 

 trees may be located by stretching a line or wire across 

 the field where the first row is to be planted and marking 

 off proper distances on the wire with white string or cloth. 

 After the stakes have been set at these points for the first 

 row, the line is moved to the next and the process continued. 



If the area is large, it is well to establish a base line along 

 one side of the orchard with stakes marking the position 

 of the rows. Another line should be run along an adjacent 

 side at right angles to this base line and stakes set along it 

 at the distance of the trees in the rows. If similar lines 

 are marked off along the other two sides of the orchard, 

 the correct location of any tree may be determined by 

 sighting. 



Planting the Trees. This is generally done with the aid 

 of a planting board. This board should be four or five 



II ffl fnB nj 



Fig. 133. A planting board. 



feet long, about three inches wide, and a half inch thick. 

 A square notch is cut out of the center and at each end 

 along one side of the board. The board is so placed that 

 the stake marking the position of the tree fits into the 

 center notch and a stake is driven in each notch at the ends. 

 The center stake is then pulled up and the board, after 

 the hole is dug, is replaced against the two outside stakes. 



