1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
3?7 
LAYING OUT AN ORCHARD. 
Planting Trees by the Wire Method. 
We wish to learn the most practical way to lay off a hun¬ 
dred acres of rolling land for apple orchard, so as to get the 
trees in line and right distance apart, at the least expendi¬ 
ture of time and labor. j. w. w. 
Rappahannock Co., Va. 
If I had a tract of 100 acres of land, whether it was 
rolling or level, to be set to orchard of any kind, my 
first move would be to lay off roads across it in differ¬ 
ent directions, so as to make it convenient of access by 
wagon. If the ground was level, or nearly so, the roads 
should be laid at right angles to each other, and so as 
to make blocks of about 10 acres, but if the ground is 
quite uneven, as is apt to be the case in the part of 
Virginia where the inquirer lives, it might be necessary 
to make the roads irregularly, to suit the lay of the 
ground. Within the orchard blocks so laid off the tree 
rows should be planned so as to occupy the spaces fully, 
but not too closely for profitable bearing. The plan 
which I adopted (and, I believe, first originated) many 
years ago, and have used in my apple orchard planting 
since 1872, is one which includes the planting of fillers 
between permanent trees. For instance, if it was a 
region in which the York Imperial and Newtown both 
succeeded, and I had decided to plant these varieties, I 
would plan to set the Newtown trees 40 or even 50 feet 
apart and fill between them with York Imperial, so as 
to make the completed orchard with trees 20 or 25 feet 
apart. This will permit the fruitage of the York Im¬ 
perial trees for at least 15 years, and then, when their 
room is needed by the Newtown trees, they should be 
promptly dug opt. Or, it might be deemed wise to plant 
all the trees of one variety, provided it is reasonably 
early in coming into bearing, and thin out when 
crowding begins, before damage is done. 
There are several good methods by 
which the places for the trees are marked 
and then set in place. The ends of the 
rows can be marked by tall stakes and 
then the rows run off both ways with 
a plow and team in the hands of a good 
driver. When the checks are thus made 
correctly the planting of the trees in 
straight rows is not difficult, as I know 
by experience. But the easiest way to 
do this work quickly, in my opinion, is by 
the use of a planting wire. This, if 
properly made, will last almost indefi¬ 
nitely and prove to be one of the most 
time and trouble-saving implements on 
the fruit farm. The length may vary 
from a few rods to a quarter of a mile, 
according to the size of the orchard to 
be laid off; but one not less than 20 nor 
more than 40 rods long will be found to 
be about right for ordinary use. The wire 
should be of soft steel, well galvanized, 
and the size about No. 14 or 16, which 
is about such as is often used for mak¬ 
ing telephone lines. A copper or brass 
wire will stretch, and a steel wire that 
is highly tempered is not sufficiently 
pliant, and is apt to kink and break with 
use. A small quantity of No. 20 soft brass wire should 
be obtained, some tinner’s solder and small bottle of sol¬ 
dering acid. If a soldering iron and portable heater are 
easily got they will be just the thing, but any arrange¬ 
ment that will provide an iron that may be heated and 
handled in and out of the fire at will and melt the solder 
quickly will do. A narrow board or two boards nailed 
together, so as to he as long as or longer than the dis¬ 
tance apart the trees are to be planted, should be laid 
on trestle or on the ground where the wire is to be 
spaced. This board should have two distinct marks, 
one at or near either end, the exact distance apart that 
the trees are to be. Begin near one end of the wire 
and make a mark on it with a dull knife, wrap three 
or four coils with the brass wire at this spot and clip 
it off a sixteenth of an inch from the large wire, leaving 
the stub standing out. Touch the spot with a drop of 
the acid already mentioned, and this must not be neg¬ 
lected, or the solder will not stick. Take the heated 
iron out of the fire and lay it down flat. Touch the 
solder to its upper surface untiL a little drop is melted 
and lying there. Dip the brass coil in the melted solder 
until a little of it adheres to the spot and jerk it up 
quickly, when it will cool. Tie a little strip of rag 
tightly over it, making sure that the wire point goes 
through it, to hold it in place. This will fix the spot 
and cause it to be easily seen in the field. If different 
kinds of trees are to be planted at once a different col¬ 
ored rag can be used for each. Hold the marked place 
on the wire at the first mark on the board and stretch 
it over the second and mark it with the knife; after 
which the brass wire coils should be made and soldered 
in place as before described. Thus the whole wire 
should be spaced off. A reel can be provided on which 
to coil it as it is made, or a barrel can be substituted 
for it. 
In using the wire the first thing is to determine on 
what side of the field the first row will be planted, and 
this should be used as the base line; the two flanking 
sides should each have a row of stakes set along their 
entire length the distance apart the trees arc to be 
planted, and at right angles to the base line. About 
half the way between these sides, that is, through the 
middle of the tract, another line of stakes and at right 
angles to the base line should be marked with tall 
stakes or sight poles to be used as a guide line in all 
the planting, and just where a row of trees is to be 
set. Let there be two sets of hands, of three each, ready 
to plant and an extra one or two for delivering the trees 
along the rows and for odd jobs that are needed. Stretch 
the wire along the base line or parallel with it where 
the first row of trees is to be set. Any means of stretch¬ 
ing it tight and holding it so will do, but two strong 
stakes about six or eight feet long, sharpened at one 
end for punching into the ground as a fulcrum, are 
what I use, one for either end of the line. About a 
foot from the base of each of these stakes or hand¬ 
spikes the wire should be securely fastened and their 
points firmly set in the ground. A careful man stands 
at the middle of the line and gets one of the rag- 
marked spots in exact line with the perpendicular guide 
line of stakes, and motions as a surveyor does to the 
man at each end to pull or slacken on the stretching 
spikes, as may be necessary, until the wire is taut. If 
a small rope is tied to the top end of each stretching 
pole and a little peg on the other end of each of these 
ropes they can be held firmly in place by thrusting the 
pegs in the ground. 
When all is thus prepared and the trees are heeled in 
not far away, the planting should proceed. Have the 
two sets of men, one at either end of the wire, begin to 
dig holes for the trees where the rags mark the places, 
and as fast as the holes are ready the trees should be 
set. One man holds the tree in place, and places the 
roots properly, while another fills in the soil as needed, 
the first man all the while directing him and tramping 
it firmly between and over the roots. He can have a 
knife in hand and trim the tree the instant it is well 
set, and be ready to follow the digger to the second 
hole, which has been prepared while he was planting 
the first tree. At the other end of the wire the same 
thing should be done at the same time, and by continu¬ 
ing the work the two sets of men should reach the 
center of the wire at the same time. The first row be¬ 
ing planted, the wire should be moved one space to 
the front and stretched, with the center rag in line with 
the guide poles, and fastened at either end as before. 
It can easily be dropped in place like a chalk line. The 
hands now plant from the middle to the ends of the 
wire, when the second row is done. Again move and 
fasten the wire one space to the front and do as be¬ 
fore. The trees will be as straight in the rows as the 
squares of a checkerboard. Little inequalities of the 
land, hillsides, stumps, rocks and all seeming obstacles 
to the good working of this way of planting by the 
wire will not trouble, except in the most serious cases, 
nor will it be seriously in the way in digging holes for 
the trees and setting them. There are no interior stakes 
to set for the trees, hence no time and trouble spent in 
measuring, sighting or any such thing. The wire once 
stretched in place and the trees set by it there will be 
the minimum of trouble in doing the work. 
I sometimes plow out the rows for the trees on the 
lines where the wire is to be stretched, and either im¬ 
mediately or any time before stretching it, so as to 
avoid a large part of the labor in digging the holes for 
the trees. Two rounds are plowed outwards from 
where the trees are to be, thus furnishing with a deep, 
dead furrow. After the trees are set, I take a big plow 
and one horse and throw back these furrows, thus leav¬ 
ing a low ridge next the trees. All this may seem to 
be theoretical, fanciful and, to some, perhaps an im¬ 
practical way of laying out and planting an orchard, but 
I have used it on all kinds of ground, sometimes where 
there were hills in the fields that I could not see over; 
point rows at one or both ends of the field, and all such 
inequalities and adverse conditions to overcome; but 
the plan worked like a charm. My advice to anyone 
who is planting an orchard is to give it a fair trial, and 
I fully believe he will like it and save much labor, time 
and annoyance. h. e. van deman. 
“NEW CELERY CULTURE” DAMAGE 
FROM MICE. 
Is celery grown by the “new culture” a success? Last 
year I transplanted about 7,000 plants. It required much 
time, patience and backaching work to keep the bed 
from weeds and soil in a good growing condition. The 
plants grew well, and looked very promising, and at¬ 
tracted the attention of all who saw them. Late in the 
Fall I noticed something wrong with my White Plume; 
on examination I found the center or heart had been 
eaten off, also a great many plants cut entirely off. 
This left such large spaces the remaining plants would 
not blanch. As the plants were so close together it 
was impossible for the cats to catch the mice. I then 
bought “Rat Biscuit,” broke it in small pieces and 
scattered it through the bed. The mice preferred the 
celery. I then gave them “Rough on Rats” spread on 
cake; this way I killed many, but by no means all. I 
then put the remaining plants in a root house and 
trench. I retailed $3 worth from the 
root house; when I opened up the trench 
not even a root could I find, so completely 
did they do the work. I would like to 
know if .any of the readers of The R. 
N.-Y. have had this experience. If so, 
how do you get rid of the mice? 
Norwalk, O. i. f. f. 
R. N.-Y.—The “new method” consists 
in preparing the soil thoroughly, manur¬ 
ing or fertilizing heavily, and setting the 
plants close together, in some cases one 
foot apart, all over the field, without 
mounding or banking up. It is necessary 
to irrigate from time to time and, while 
young, the plants are kept clean by hand 
and wheel hoe. The dense mass of celery 
blanches the stalks without the need of 
earth or boards. In some cases large 
yields of good celery have been grown in 
this way, but the plan is not popular. 
We would like the experience of those 
who have been troubled by mice in garden 
or hotbed. 
VERMONT ALFALFA WANTED. 
Some one of your readers knows more 
about this than I do; hence I am writing 
for information. I have a farm in Vermont 
about midway on the east side. I am very 
anxious to get a piece on which corn was grown 
last year into Alfalfa. It is a superb piece of land, on 
which any kind of oats or barley would lodge. It will 
grow Red clover three tons to the acre by using a little 
clover fertilizer. It is well drained, and water never 
stands on it. It has a little Witch grass, but not enough 
to interfere with the Red clover. For the corn last 
year it was fertilized with a good coat of manure and 
small amount of fertilizer in the hill. So much for 
the land. How shall I fertilize for the Alfalfa? When 
shall I sow it, with or without a few oats or barley? I 
could grow a crop of oats and sow the Alfalfa after 
harvesting the oats, say about the last of August, or 
possibly the middle. Would that be better than sowing 
the Alfalfa in the Spring? I want to do whatever will 
be best for the Alfalfa. I am after that rather than 
grain or anything else. It is good clover land. I get 
a catch and good crop of clover with 300 pounds of 
clover fertilizer per acre. I can get hard-wood ashes 
at a reasonable price. Shall I use 50 or 75 bushels of 
ashes to the acre, and the clover fertilizer in addition? 
I shall be very glad of the advice of anyone who has 
succeeded with Alfalfa. s. e. w. 
Massachusetts._ 
BOTTLING MILK.—The proper way to bottle milk, 
that is, the important thing, is to get the milk cooled 
and sealed from the air. Passing the milk over a 
cooler and on into bottles standing in ice water is ex¬ 
cellent and our own system of running warm milk into 
bottles standing in ice water is good, provided you get 
the temperature of the milk down rapidly. You may 
cap the bottles as soon as possible, but do not put them 
in the refrigerator until you have cooled them thor¬ 
oughly. G. B. R, 
Ulsterdorp Farms, N. Y. 
MOVING ICE TO NEW ICEHOUSE IN MAY. Fig. 132. 
