71 



slope. ^Measure off twenty feet for a border from starting point 

 at top and bottom, this will leave room at the end of yonr orchard 

 to turn teams in cultivating, etc. Stretch out one of the wires for 

 vour first row. next measure olt the distance you wish the tree 

 rows apart and stretch the other wire ; this will be your second 

 row. \\ e use two men at each end of the wire and four men at 

 the center, using the wire to plant by. The men work in couples. 

 The two men at ends work towards the center, the two couples at 

 the center work in opposite directions, until they meet the men 

 coming from the ends, then they all move over to the other wire and 

 work back to their starting places ; then both wires are carried for- 

 ward to their proper positions and the work goes right on. 



Question. How long is the wire? 



Mr. Cohill. One- fourth mile in length. 



Question. How do you move it? 



Mr. Cohill. Have men scattered along. Each has a certain 

 section to work in. All have the same number of trees to put in. 



W. C. Tyson. How do you stretch that wire ? 



Mr. Cohill. A\'e have a reel at the foot of the slope and stretch 

 it as tight as we can get it, with bar and brace. Dig the hole at 

 the same time the tree is planted and make it large enough to ac- 

 commodate the tree. 



Trees should be planted at least two inches deeper than they 

 were in the nursery and on steep slopes four inches deeper than 

 they were in the nursery. Holes must be dug to accommodate 

 the tree in hand so that roots can be spread out and not touch the 

 sides of the holes ; the subsoil must be thrown to one side replacing 

 two to four inches of good rich soil in the bottom of the hole. One 

 man takes the tree, spreads the roots out with one hand, and the 

 other man with the shovel throws in a shovel full or two of good 

 mellow rich soil, then scatters about a half pound of tobacco dust 

 and bone meal in a hole on top of first two shovel fulls of soil. 

 At the same time the man with the tree in his hand takes the other 

 hand to work the soil between the roots thoroughly ; this done, one 

 man fills the hole while the other tramps the earth solid with his 

 feet as each shovel full is thrown in. When finished a man cannot 

 pull a tree up with one hand, and if it can be pulled up with one 

 hand we do not consider the tree properly ])lanted. 



Under this system we have planted twelve hundred trees per 

 day. The average will probably be one thousar.d trees per day, and 

 99^ per cent, of them grow. 



A\'e have found it dangerous to plant trees when the soil is 

 dried out. We prefer to plant apple trees in the Fall of the year 

 just as early as possible after the leaves have fallen from the trees 

 or any time during the winter or early spring when not freezing. 



