Planning and Planting the Orchard 51 



the setter should always look ahead and line the trees 

 with the stakes rather than with the trees set behind. 

 The final test for determining the accuracy of the position 

 of the tree is to see that it lines up with the diagonal rows. 

 Other methods of laying out, as with a line, could be 

 given, but most of them are tedious if not impracticable. 



The system that requires the most work does not al- 

 ways give the most satisfactory results. Figure 4 shows a 

 large field laid out by the stake method and marked both 

 ways. Here fourteen men are shown, actually engaged 

 in planting; two are distributing trees from the wagon, 

 six are digging the holes and filling in about the trees, 

 and the other six are trimming and placing the trees. 

 These fourteen men set twenty acres per day without 

 difficulty, and set them well. 



Trees should be handled carefully in planting, and the 

 roots should be exposed to the air no longer than neces- 

 sary. If the force of men is large, the plan of hauling the 

 trees in a wagon, with men to distribute them, is a good 

 one. With the furrow method of planting, the man with 

 the shovel may dig the hole, while the other prunes the 

 roots, and, if he is to be trusted, the top. 



A very convenient method of handling the trees when 

 setting with four men .or less is to carry the bundles of 

 trees, with the roots well protected, on a sled. A barrel 

 one quarter full of water is placed on one end of the sled, 

 and as soon as a bunch is cut it is dropped in the barrel. 

 With the sled between the two rows, the two men sighting- 

 in the trees can take them from the barrel. Root-pruning 

 consists in cutting off the broken ends, cutting them all 

 back to six or eight inches in length, and possibly thinning 



