DETERMINING PLANTING DISTANCES AND PLAN 179 



Procedure: 



(a) Consider size of mature trees. 



(6) Consider advisability of fillers. 



(c) Consider merits of various planting plans. 



(a) Consider Size of Mature Trees, Growers have difS- 

 culty in visualizing the amount of space needed by the tree at 

 maturity. At least 75 percent of the present commercial 

 orchards are examples of too close planting. What con- 

 stitutes adequate space may be defined only when the region, 

 the soil, and the variety are known. Fruit trees grow much 

 larger in some sections than in others. A Baldwin tree on 

 strong soil in New York will use 50 feet at maturity. In 

 the scantier soil of New England, 40 feet or even less is 

 enough space for it. Wealthy, Yellow Transparent, Ben 

 Davis, Wagener, or Jonathan do not require as much space 

 in any section as do York Imperial, Stayman Winesap, Mc- 

 intosh, or Rhode Island Greening. The Morello cherry needs 

 less space than Montmorency. Table 34 is an approxima- 

 tion only, with emphasis on the greater distances. 



TABLE 34 



Planting Distances for Permanent Trees 



Feet Feet 



Apple 35 to 50 Sour cherry 20 to 25 



Pear 22 to 30 Sweet cherry 25 to 35 



Quince 18 to 20 Plum and prune 18 to 25 



Peach and apricot 20 to 25 



(b) Consider the Advisability of Fillers. A filler is a tree 

 inserted in the orchard to supplement the income from the 

 orchard until the permanent trees need all the space. Some 

 growers prefer to secure this income by growing annual crops 

 between the permanent trees, instead of using fillers. A filler 



