126 SUBURBAN GARDENS 
from each tree horizontally in opposite di- 
rections along a rail or wire stretched about 
two feet above the ground, spaces them out 
to twelve or fifteen feet apart. And between 
these extremes there are “ palmetto ” forms 
that range from five to ten feet apart, and the 
Verrier forms that run from three to six or 
eight. A distance of less than five feet hardly 
allows earth enough to each tree, however, to 
insure its being well nourished, and I should 
not advise adopting the forms which are set 
closer than this. 
Only the finest fruits are offered in these 
trained trees, and as they are usually from 
seven to ten years or more old, and fruiting 
before they are offered for sale — and conse- 
quently will bear the first year after setting 
out, unless they receive a setback through 
improper handling — they are of course much 
more expensive than ordinary trees. But of 
the latter the small garden cannot have more 
than one or two if there is to be any space at 
all for vegetables or flowers, and these will 
not begin to produce fruit under three to five 
years — or perhaps seven or eight — from time 
of planting, under the most favorable con- 
ditions. So the initial cost is really offset very 
largely by the advantage in production — and 
