94 To Find a Square Corner. 
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 dis- 
tances 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 diam- 
eter, made of several strands of small wire. It is more flexible 
and less likely to become kinked than the large wire, and can be 
easily measured and marked off to represent the distances at 
which rows of different kinds of trees should be placed. This 
is done by separating the strands a little at the desired points 
and inserting a little piece of red cloth, pressing the wires to- 
gether 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 
stretching can be taken up by retwisting, which can not be done 
with the stretching of a single wire. 
Finding a True Corner—To use the measuring wire for lay- 
ing 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 parallel with the boundary of the field, place a 
stake at each of the distance tags on the wire, and these stakes 
will represent the first row of trees or vines. To find a square 
corner, begin at the starting-point and measure off sixty feet 
along this row with a tape line, and put a temporary stake, then 
from the starting-point measure off eighty feet as nearly at 
a right angle with the first line as can be judged with the eye, 
and run diagonally from this point the temporary sixty-foot 
stake. If the distance between these stakes is one hundred feet, 
then the corner is a right angle. Now, having the outside lines 
started at right angles to each other, one can proceed with the 
measuring wire and lay off as large an area as he desires, if 
care is taken to have each line drawn parallel with the last, and 
all stakes accurately placed with the tags on the wire—providing 
the land is nearly level or on a uniform grade. In locating trees 
over uneven ground, the measurements will have to be made 
from tree to tree, with the tape line held as nearly’to a level as 
possible. 
