May, 11)14 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



519 



direction of ?\ and tWn mieasurinp other measurements. The base-line 

 its full Icnj^th to II (exactly on line 

 CDICj, the distauioes between D— II, 

 I) — F, and II — K should l)c made 

 exactly equal, we shall then know 

 that the position F Ss correct, an<l 

 the transverse base-line can he i)ro- 

 duced to the far side of the or- 

 chard. The distances F— t^, F— J, 

 II — J, and C. — .1 should all he mea- 

 sured and found exactly equal to 

 F — D. The line JFK can now be 

 staked out perfectlv straig'ht, and, 

 bei^inninjr at the point F, it must 

 be marked out from end to end 

 in .<?|)aces of exactly 24 feet '; this 

 is done with the same planitin<,r 

 wire that has been u.sed for all 



CDIC will be pejjjred as will all 

 other base-lines, into 24-feet spaces, 

 the measurements bioing started 

 where the transverse base-line 

 crosses the others. 



In staking out a straight line, 

 a plummet with a line hard string 

 should he used. If it is held 

 steadily at arm's length and the 

 sight taken along the string, it 

 will be found that the work is very 

 much more accurate than if an at- 

 tempt is made to sight more or 

 less crooked sticks into line with- 

 out a plummet. The pegging of 

 the longitudinal base-lines is done 



of Sose Lines 



B 



\' frees /r> p/ace. 



with pine peps about as thick as 

 a man's thumb, and 9 inches long; 

 they should stand up 3 inches. 



Sometimes the whole of the land 

 is ])loughcd and subsoifled before 

 any marking out of the lines is 

 done, but the writer prefers to 

 mark out the orchard first, and 

 alter projierly lixing the base-lines, 

 the api)roxiiiiate positions of the 

 long lines of trees can be easily 

 staKed, so that a strip of land say 

 12 feet wide may be ploughed and 

 sub.soiled for each line of trees. 

 The base lines, of course, must not 

 be ploughed out until the planting 

 is done, but the remaimler of the 

 orchard can he ploughed, and, for 

 that matter, subsoiled at once, 

 though it appears better practice, 

 and cheaper, to only subsoil strips 

 about 12 feet wide during the first 

 year, and to sul)soil the remainder 

 during the next year or two, so 

 that the soil shaU be freshly loos- 

 ened up as the roots extend to- 

 wards it. The unploughed land be- 

 tween the strips is of great ad- 

 vantage while the work of planting 

 is in progress ; men and horses 

 can walk on them instead of plod- 

 ding through the ploughed land. 

 Of course, the entire surface will 

 be plouirhed as soon as the plant- 

 ing is finished, even though some 

 strips of subsoiling may be left for 

 another year. 



After having carefully establish- 

 ed the main base-line nearly down 

 the centre of the orchard, the mea- 

 surements with the planting wire 

 when the trees are being set should 

 always be taken from this base. 

 The man in charge of the planting 

 should take the end of the wire 

 which is worked along the main 

 base line, while another man will 

 pull it taut to the next base-line. 

 The first will then stake down his 

 end, so that the button near the 

 ring shall be just even . with the 

 peg in the base-line, then the man 

 at the other end will firmly stake 

 his end of the wire in place, so 

 that it passes just beside the pro- 

 per peg in the second base-line. All 

 the trees can now be planted along 

 the wire, which will be moved up 

 to the next two pegs in the base- 

 lines, and another row of trees 

 planted as soon as the wire is set. 

 Sometimes the button at one end 

 of the wire w^ill not quite tally 

 with the peg in the secondary 

 iDase-line. There may be a dif!er- 

 ence of an inch or so ; this is due 

 to uneven ground over which the 

 wire is stretched, and may be 

 neglected if the other end is kept 

 strictlv to its place on the main 

 base-line. 



Although this method of plant- 

 ing is somewhat difficult to des- 



