546 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



May, 1914 



cost of working the " waste " land 

 will have to be met vear after 

 year. 



Clearly, then, the design which 

 allows of the arrangement of the 

 greatest number of circles of ade- 

 quate area per acre will (other 

 considerations being equal) ])e the 

 most profitable. 



— Types of Lay-Out. — 



Onlv the five following systems 

 of lay-out are considered here : — 



No. I. — " The Square Svstem." 



No. 2. — " .Alternating Squares." 



No. 3. — " The Quincunx." 



No. 4.—" The Row System." 



No. 5- — " KquilateraJ Triangles," 

 or " The Hexagonal Svstem." 



The Square Lav-out consists :n 

 plantinor the trees at the intersec- 

 tions of equi-distant straio^ht lines 

 crossing each other at right 

 annfles. In other words, each of 

 four adjacent trees will stand at 

 one of the four comers of a. 

 square. 



" Altemafintr Squares." — This 

 system is a modification of No. i, 

 inasmiich as the trees in one row. 

 are not planted opposite those of 

 the adjacent rows, but midway be- 

 tween them. This really results in 

 nlantinsr in a series of triangles, 

 but the triangles are not well pro- 

 portioned. 



The Quincunx lis like No. i, ex- 

 cept that a centre tree is placed in 

 the middle of each square. It is 

 recommended onlv where the main 

 orchard trees are likely to grow to 

 great size and require very wide 

 snacinsr. Under these conditioTis 

 the centre space may profitably be 

 filled bv ouick maturing varieties 

 (such as Peaches), which will have 

 paid for them.selves before the 

 main trees demand their re- 

 moval. 



But planters should not fall into 

 the error of thinking that because 

 there is only one filler in the cen- 

 tre of four standards, the propor- 

 tion is only one to four. The num- 

 ber of fillprs and of standards is 

 ernial. and the real spacing is 

 halved with manv of the disadvan- 

 taffes of close plantinp-. Only un- 

 der exceptional ronditions is Ouin- 

 cimx planting ad\isable. 



Tbe Row Svstem consists in 

 plantine the trees in rows as grape 

 vines are usually set, and for 

 manv reasons is onlv recommend- 

 n-d whf>re the tre^s are to be trel- 

 liscd li'- p 'TP^e r-ines or arc to act 

 as windbreak. 



The Trianeular System disposes 

 of the tree in equilateraJl triangles. 



and they also fall into truly 

 straight lines, as in other sx stenis. 

 The method is recommended as be- 

 ing theoretically the most cor- 

 rect, both as regards equal dispo- 

 sition over the land, with least 

 waste, and also for economical and 

 convenient working and cultivation 

 of the orchard. It should always 

 be chosen unless some ver}^ stroiig 

 local conditions forbid. 



— Comparison of Systems. — 



The onlv two systems of lay-out 

 which need comparison here are 



" The Square," because it is so well 

 known, and " The Triangular," be- 

 cause of its manj' merits. 



Havinsr decided that his trees 

 will require a spacing of 24 feet 

 apart, the planter will find that if 

 he- sets them in squares only 

 seventy-five and a half can be 

 planted per acre ; but if in equila- 

 teral triangles, he gets nearly 

 twelve more trees, or 15% per cent, 

 more Per acre. This is illustrated 

 by Diagram No. i, which also 



1 



ORCHARD 



SQUARES EQUILATERAL 



though it should only naturally 

 fill a circle of 452^ square feet. 

 It recjuires little more than three- 

 quarters of the space we have 

 given it. 



If, however, we dispose of our 

 trees on the '' triangular " lay-out, 

 each receives a block' of land in 

 the form of a regular hexagon, ' 

 which so closely approximates to 

 the form' of a circle that there is 

 very little " waste," and what 

 there ^s can be filled by the tree's 

 roots with very little crowding. 



N 're appears to have taught 

 *' something of the advan- 



the hexagon over the 

 sq "he honey cells of ' the 



bet ■ are always hexagonal, 

 and ^re, in form. 



Inste. . .■ inting our trees 24 



feet apa lay decide to set 



a given n u p -> the acre of or- 

 chard land. ise we decide 

 to plant abou '- c ity-five trees 

 per acre (see Duigi No. 2), then 

 if set " square ' iKf. spacing will 

 be as before, but if w ». adopt the 



LAY-OUT 



TRIANGLES ALTERNAi^i^. iQ'lAP.^S 



715 J free^ per acre. ST'ii frees /f^r acre . Zi^i J-rpej per acre. 



/I// frees Sftace^^ 24 /i'fif aparf-- 



shows a block of trees planted on 

 the system of " Allernating 

 S'(|uares." In this diagram the 

 " waste " land is shown in black, 

 and inspection will prove that there 

 is very much more " waste " with 

 the lay-out in squares and alter- 

 natiny .stjuares than in equilateral 

 triangles. It is the saving of this 

 waste which gives the triangular 

 lay-out so many more trees in the 

 area of orchard. 



When planted on the " scpiare," 

 each tree is allotted ;i square of 

 land 576 .square feet in area, al- 



" trianole " we can give each tree 

 an extra distance of almost ex- 

 actly 2 feet greater spacing ; it 

 will live on a circle of 26 feet 

 diameiter, or 53o}^ square feet 

 area, instead of one of 24 feet dia- 

 meter, and only 452^^ square feet. 



The writer does not claim that 

 an acre of land can be (increased in 

 area if triangles are drawn over 

 it, nor reduced if marked out in 

 squares. But if the trees are 

 planted in triangles their roots 

 will be more evenly distributed 

 than If set in squares, and the 



