Transplanting. 57 



ibis seem like a great deal of cost and labor ? It is the very cheap- 

 est way of obtaining fine crops of the best fruit ; for the strong, 

 long, and healthy shoots which will run up even the first year, and 

 the size, beauty, and richness of the fruit soon afforded from such an 

 orchard, kept well cultivated during its early years, will astonish 

 those who have never seen any but slip-shod culture. 



In setting out large orchards, if the whole field cannot be deep- 

 ened, a strip of land ten feet wide extending across the orchard, 

 may be treated in the same way, in the centre of which each row is 

 to be set ; and the intermediate spaces, constituting two-thirds or 

 more of the whole, may, if necessary, be prepared afterwards, by 

 the time the roots have passed the boundaries of the first. 



LAYING OUT ORCHARDS. 



Every one will admit that an orchard handsomely laid out in 

 perfectly straight rows, is in every respect better than where the 

 trees are in crooked lines. An owner can feel no pride in giving 

 proper cultivation to an awkwardly planted orchard ; and trees 

 standing out of line will be a constant annoyance to every plough- 

 man who is in the practice of laying perfectly even furrows. 



Some planters take great pains in setting their trees, so that one 

 tree at the end of the row will hide all the rest when the eye ranges 

 through the line. But in securing this desirable object, a great deal 

 of labor is often expended in sighting in different directions while 

 setting each successive tree, so that every row may be straight 

 every way. The following mode of laying out and planting will not 

 require one-twentieth of the labor commonly devoted, may be per- 

 formed under the direction of any common workman, and will give 

 rows that will range perfectly, not only in both directions, but diago- 

 nally. The writer has found that two men would thus lay out from 

 thirty to forty acres in a day, with perfect precision for planting. 



The first thing to do is to procure as many short pins or stakes, a 

 f >w inches long, as there are to be trees in the orchard. These 

 may be made by simply splitting short blocks or boards with an axe, 

 say half an inch in diameter ; or corn-cobs will answer a good purpose, 

 and may be more easily seen. Then procure a strong cord as long 

 as one side of the orchard, or, if the orchard is very large, as long 

 as each section may be, if necessary to divide it. Then, with a pole 

 or other measure, mark off the distances of the trees on this line, 

 sticking a common brass pin through at each place for a tree, bend- 

 ing it around the cord so that it will not come out. Red yarn 



