DOUBLE TREES.
Trees may be set singly, as standards, in the way commonly practiced with other fruit trees, or they may be set “double”—that is, two trees planted together in one hole and allowed to remain. The latter method has not heretofore been advocated in this country but is worthy of thorough trial. The method consists in planting two long cuttings, about 12 inches apart, in the same hole, allowing them to protrude from the ground a few inches. Both are allowed to grow and the two are treated as a single tree with two stems or standards. The object sought is to produce two distinct stems or trunks, in order that the splitting down of branches may be prevented. In this way trees with low, sloping branches, having their main trunks leaning outward, will be formed and it will be impossible for the trunks, the main branches, or the smaller ones to split down. Branches split only when they point upward or stand straight out—never when they slope downward from the trunk.