PEACHES AS FILLERS 



207 



planted alone and not as fillers among apple trees they may be set 

 twenty feet apart each way, or even as close as fifteen feet each 

 way. The distance will depend upon (1) strength of the soil 

 (2) type of head whether low or high, (3) system of pruning to be 

 followed in the care of the orchard. Close pruning will allow of 

 close planting. 



Fig. 132. — Peach trees just received from the nursery for planting in the orchard. At 

 left are grades one, two and three of September budding. Next are two sizes of June budded 

 trees. (New Jersey Station.) 



Peaches as Fillers. — The peach tree comes to bearing age by 

 the third or fourth spring after planting. Because of this quick- 

 maturing feature the trees are often planted with apples, which 

 mature more slowly. The plan usually followed in this filler 

 system of planting is shown in figure 136. There are three times as 

 many peach fillers as there are permanent apple trees. 



When the peach trees are about ten or twelve years old they 



