PREPARING FIELD FOR PLANTING 



193 



stakes may be set where the trees are to go and then removed 

 only after the other trees have been planted. In Southern 

 sections, a colored man with one mule, given a few stakes to 

 go by, will plow out furrows and cross furrows very accurately. 

 A team may be used, sighting between the horses. In large 

 plantings and on rough land, the plan outlined may be too 

 laborious and expensive, although the work, 

 once the boundaries are established, goes 

 quickly. Wire marked at the proper dis- 

 tances, or measuring sticks as long as the 

 distance between trees, may be used. Cord 

 is not satisfactory for measurements be- 

 cause of its tendency to stretch with use 

 or to shrink when wet. Steel or linen tapes 

 are preferable. 



Whatever the plan used, time taken in 

 the interest of accuracy when planting is 

 time well spent. Trees much out of line, 

 as in Fig. 69, are not merely an eyesore, 

 they interfere seriously with orchard op- 

 erationSj especially in closely planted or- 

 chards. A discrepancy of a few inches will 

 gradually disappear and be ^'taken up^^ by 

 the tree in the course of development. 



The planting plan for the hexagonal sys- 

 tem does not vary except that distances be- 

 tween rows, not between trees, are different 

 and the staking must correspond. A wire 

 triangle, each side representing the distance 

 between trees, with rings at the corners 

 help. 



In working on uneven ground, keep the measuring tape or 

 device level rather than following the contour of the ground. 



It will save time to map the outer boundaries and inner 

 guide stakes on paper before undertaking to lay out the field. 

 Use the actual distances of planting adapted to a convenient 



Fig. 69. Although 

 this orchard was 

 planted on level 

 land, making it 

 easy to lay out the 

 rows accurately, 

 this view along a 

 row indicates little 

 effort to do so. 



for staking will 



