Laying Out the Orchard 31 



angle from tree to tree across the field and setting so that 

 a tree is in exact contact with each corner, the trees will 

 all line up perfectly and be in exact triangles. This method 

 does not give perfectly straight rows unless used care- 

 fully. All trees must be in contact with the triangular 

 frame each time. 



Laying Out an Orchard on Rough or Steep Hill Land 



It is a comparatively easy matter to lay out an orchard 

 on land that is level or approximately so, but it is a dif- 

 ferent matter where the ground is very rough or steep, 

 and which may need to be terraced. In some of the moun- 

 tain cove lands of the Eastern states planting in contours 

 or terracing may be necessary in order to prevent the soil 

 from being washed away, or to facilitate the tillage of the 

 crops. In many instances these terraces can be easily 

 constructed without the use of instruments, but in others 

 a surveyor's level, or instruments of the same nature may 

 have to be put into use. Mr. F. T. Meecham describes a 

 home-made instrument called an " 'A' level" that serves 

 very well in laying out terraces on hill land as follows: 



"To construct an A level, use well-seasoned timber, 

 pine being preferable because it is light and does not tend 

 to warp. Take three pieces 10 feet long, 3 inches wide and 

 y 2 inch thick. Now lay on a level floor so as to get the 

 instrument of a rod span. The rod is commonly used in 

 measuring land and is generally best, as it gets over land 

 faster than a ten-foot level. Drive two nails in the floor 

 just a rod, or 16J^ feet apart, saw off the ends of the two 

 pieces to be used for legs so that the ends will rest on the 

 floor. Now place one end of each leg against the nails 

 and let the pieces cross above your head and just exactly 

 over the center of the rod span. Put a bolt here through 

 both pieces fasten them together at the point A then we 

 have two legs of the level, AB and AC. Now take the third 

 piece and use as the crossbar, DE. Fasten the piece DE 

 to AC at about D, bolt so as to permit it to work easily. 

 Now at F securely place a spirit level, such as you 

 can get from almost any hardware store for 10 cents. 



