182 



ESTABLISHING THE ORCHARD 



the soil inclined to wash badly. Trees may be planted accord- 

 ing to the contour of the land, such cultivation as is done 

 being across the slope rather than up and down it. Such 

 an arrangement, however, does not contribute to convenience 

 or efficiency from the commercial standpoint. 



Table 35 gives the number of trees per acre at given dis- 

 tances, depending upon the plan of planting: 



TABLE 35 



Number of Trees Per Acre at Given' Distances 

 According to Plan Used 



Distance 

 Apart 

 in Feet 



Number of Trees 

 per Acre * 



Distance 

 Apart 

 in Feet 



Number of Trees 

 per Acre * 



Square 



Hexagonal 



Square 



Hexagonal 



18 



134 



154 



35 



35 



41 



20 



108 



124 



40 



27 



32 



22 



90 



104 



45 



22 



25 



25 



70 



80 



50 



17 



20 



30 



48 



55 









* Obtained by dividing 43,560, the number of square feet in an acre, by the land 

 area devoted to each tree (in the square system the area of the square, in the hexagonal 

 system the area of the parallelogram) . Slight variations from this table will be encoun- 

 tered in actual practice, depending on space left at ends, sides, etc. The quincunx sys- 

 tem will usually accommodate about 75 percent more trees than the square system, or 

 if the number of rows and trees in the row are the same for fillers as for permanents, the 

 quincunx system will double the number of trees. 



Plenty of space for turning should be reserved at the ends 

 of all rows. The amount will be influenced by the presence of 

 fences, hedgerows, etc. Usually more than one-half the dis- 

 tance between permanent trees, or about 30 to 35 feet, should 

 be left at the ends of the rows to facilitate orchard operations. 



7. Purchasing Trees. The grower is now ready to place his 

 order for trees. This should be done well in advance while 



