40 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



Pears are not advisable as fillers, especially in an apple 

 orchard, on account of their susceptibility to fire blight, 

 which can be communicated to the apple trees. 



Quick maturing varieties of apples make the best fillers 

 in an apple orchard, and especially so if the fillers have 

 an upright habit, such as Missouri Pippin, Wagener, or 

 Rome Beauty. Such kinds can be handled to advantage 

 in an orchard laid out on the rectangular plan, with the 

 filler in the center of the square. This will double the 

 number of trees per acre, and give each tree the maximum 

 of room. It is not so easy to plant fillers to advantage 

 when the orchard is laid out on the hexagonal plan with- 

 out crowding the trees. 



A common and satisfactory method of arranging fillers 

 is to set the permanent apple trees thirty feet apart, with 

 a filler midway between the trees in one direction only. 

 This will put the trees 15x30 feet apart. 



While good returns can be made from the fillers in 

 an orchard, it is safe to say that practically as good re- 

 turns can be made by using crops of other kinds. In 

 small orchards some of the small fruits, such as straw- 

 berries, blackberries or currants are good money makers. 

 In large orchards it is better to grow some kind of cover 

 crop and work towards building up a large framework and 

 strong trees that will be heavy bearers when they come 

 into fruiting, rather than to try to get an extra amount of 

 fruit from the temporary trees. 



One of the great dangers of intermixed planting is that 

 nine persons out of ten will not take the fillers out when 

 they ought to. There is danger in it to the whole enter- 

 prise and the system should be recommended very guard- 

 edly, if at all. Peaches should not be planted among apples 

 as a rule. It is better to stick to one kind of fruit. 



Orchard Tillage 



The style of tilling used in the Eastern and Western 

 fruit sections are vastly different. In the Western sec- 

 tions, where irrigation is practiced, clean cultivation is in- 



