STARTING THE ORCHARD 35 



oftenest used and recommended for this purpose, 

 plums and sour cherries would probably answer the 

 requirements of the case better. They are slower 

 growers, make smaller heads, and are much less likely 

 to overtop the permanent apple trees. If, as has al- 

 ready been said, the grower will concentrate his best 

 efforts in behalf of the permanent apple trees and 

 will make his cultivation of plums or cherries a strictly 

 secondary matter, there is no reason why these crops 

 should in any way work against the best development 

 of the main crop. The practice usually recommended 

 as being- the very best for apples conies near enough 

 to satisfying the requirements of the plum trees, at 

 least near enough so that good returns may be ex- 

 pected from fillers of this sort. 



Whatever species and varieties are selected for mix- 

 ing, the whole treatment given the orchard from the 

 very first must favor the permanent trees. These 

 must be urged to dominate the fillers. In some cases, 

 especially when the fillers are apple trees, and still 

 more especially when they are of the same variety as 

 the permanent trees, it is good practice to set the main 

 orchard first, putting in the fillers one or two years 

 later. This gives the permanent trees a start. In 

 any case, some system of repressive pruning is to be 

 recommended for the fillers, in order to keep them 

 strictly under control, and to prevent any one of them 

 overtopping a neighboring tree of the elect. 



The arrangement of an orchard will usually be 

 more or less affected by the project of using fillers 

 between the permanent trees. Sometimes it is found 

 best to adopt the old-fashioned quincunx system. This 

 is perhaps especially suited tc those cases in which 



