176 THE HOME ORCHARD— APPLE, PEAR, QUINCE 



made which will include all regions and all soils. The glowing 

 descriptions in catalogs, or those made by tree agents should not be 

 taken to mean that the varieties are well suited to the region. 

 There are many things to be considered in the choice of varieties: 

 (1) Does the fruit hold on well? (2) Do they withstand bitter rot 

 and other varietal diseases? (3) Do they grow to good size on these 

 soils? (4) Do they keep well? (5) Do they yield well? (6) Do 

 they bear regularly? (7) Does the tree make a thrifty growth? 

 (8) Are the trees long lived? (9) Do the fruits stand handling? 

 (10) Are the apples of good quality? The last point may be the 

 sole subject of the discourse of a tree agent. If the variety falls 

 down on all the other points, or any of them, the tenth point will 

 not overcome the difficulties. 



Write to your state experiment station and get a list of varieties 

 recommended for planting in your region. 



Planting the Apple Orchard. — Apple trees become so large when 

 full grown that they must be planted at distances varying from 30 

 to 40 feet apart each way. If they are started at half these distances 

 three-fourths of the trees will have to be cut out to prevent too 

 much crowding. This thinning of the trees in an apple orchard is 

 difficult because each tree is considered so valuable when it is 

 large and is bearing fruit that the grower does not "have the 

 heart" to cut the trees. 



Inter-cropping with other trees such as peaches or pears or 

 plums is sometimes practiced. If the apple trees are planted 40 

 feet apart each way and the peach trees are planted half way 

 between them in the same rows and an extra row of peaches 20 

 feet apart is planted between each two rows of apples, this will 

 make 27 apple trees per acre and three times that number or 81 

 peach trees, making a total of 108 trees to the acre. 



Plan of Planting. — The rectangular plan of laying out the orchard 

 is most common. Two lines running from one corner are estab- 

 lished with stakes. Enough stakes are placed along these two 

 lines to establish the rows in both directions. By measuring with a 

 pole from the stakes in these two lines it is easy to locate all of the 

 balance of the trees in the orchard (Fig. 101). 



If a stake is driven where each of the trees is to be planted it is 

 easy to sight along these rows of stakes and straighten the row .if 

 necessary. As each stake is removed by the digger when making 

 the hole for the tree it is necessary to mark its location before it is 

 lifted out. This is done by using a planting board as shown in 



