HOW TO FIX DISTANCES 99 



sight by in each row, and the stake driver places the stakes as 

 directed by the sighter. Good location can be done this way if a 

 man has a good eye and patience enough. 



Marking Off With a Wire. A measuring wire or chain is, per- 

 haps, the best means for getting accurate location of trees or vines. 

 It is used either for setting in squares or in other arrangement, as 

 will be described presently. Measuring wires are made of annealed 

 steel wire about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. The length 

 varies according to the wishes of the user. If it is desired to lay off 

 the plantation in blocks of one acre, the wire should be two hundred 

 and eight feet nine inches long, for that is approximately the length 

 of one side of a square inclosing an acre of ground. But some use 

 a wire as long as three hundred feet, when the acre measure is of 

 no consequence; and others, in smaller plantings, make the wire 

 just the length of the piece they have in hand. At each end of the 

 wire is fixed a strong iron ring about one and one-half inches in 

 diameter, to be slipped over stakes ; some use a larger ring, say 

 three inches in diameter, because it is easier to handle in pulling 

 taut. Along this wire, patches of solder are placed exactly at the 

 distances desired between the rows of trees or vines, and to these 

 places pieces of red cloth are sometimes fastened so that the points 

 may be easily seen. Another style of measuring wires is made of 

 small wire cable about a quarter of an inch in diameter, made of 

 several strands of small wire. It is more flexible atid less likely to 

 become kinked than the large' wire, and can be easily marked off 

 to represent the distances, at which rows of different kinds of trees 

 should be placed, by separating the strands a little at the desired 

 points and inserting a little piece of red cloth, pressing the wires 

 together again and tying firmly with a waxed thread to prevent 

 slipping. In this way the same wire can be easily arranged for 

 planting vines or for the trees requiring the greatest distance be- 

 tween the rows. Another advantage of the cable is that any stretch- 

 ing can be taken up by retwisting, which can not be done with the 

 stretching of a single wire. Another good style of planting wire is 

 made of 2, 4 or 6-foot links of No. 12 steel wire (including the diam- 

 eters of the small rings turned at each end of the link pieces). As 

 all planting will probably be at multiple distances of these link- 

 lengths, the cloth tags can be changed and the chain thus be marked 

 for any desired distances. 



Finding a True Corner. To use the measuring wire for laying 

 out trees on the square, it is necessary first to get one corner true, 

 and then a field of any size can be marked out accurately. Select 

 the side of the field which is to serve as the base of the square and 

 stretch the wire along that, say fifteen feet from the fence, which 

 will give room enough to turn with the team in cultivation or to 

 drive along in picking-time. When the wire is thus stretched 



