244 Bulletin 69. • 



Lands which have hard and impervious subsoils should be 

 plowed very deep before trees are put upon them ; and in some 

 cases, as for dwarf pears, it may pay well to use the subsoil 

 plow. Lands which hold surface water and which remain cold 

 and "sour" long after rains, should always be thoroughly tile- 

 drained before trees are set ; although it should be said that such 

 lands are frequently unfit for orchards because of poor drainage 

 of air as well as of water, and because the soil is likely to be 

 hard and cloddy. It is undoubtedly true that tile-draining bene- 

 fits all lands intended for orchards, but in the majority of cases, 

 especially in rolling lands, it is a question if the labor and ex- 

 pense is worth the while. Yet many rolling lands require drain- 

 age because they have hard and tenacious subsoils w^hich are 

 near the surface. The clay lands upon which pears and plums 

 thrive, give unusually good results if well underdrained. 



lV/ic?i to plant. — There is much difference of opinion as to the 

 relative merits of fall and spring planting. My own opinion is that 

 fall planting is generally preferable to spring planting upon thor- 

 oughly drainedsoils, particularly for the hardy tree fruits, like ap- 

 ples, pears and plums ; and if the ground is in good condition and 

 the stock well matured, peaches can sometimes be set in October 

 with success. The advantages of fall planting are several. The 

 trees become established during the open weather of fall and they 

 usually make a start in spring before the ground is hard enough to 

 allow of spring planting. This early start not only means a better 

 growth the first season, but, what is more important, trees which 

 get a very early hold upon the soil endure the drouths of midsum- 

 mer much better than trees planted in spring. Planting is nearly 

 always better done in the settled weather and workable soil of fall 

 than in the capricious days and in the hurry of springtime ; and 

 the orchardist is free to begin cultivation at a time when he would 

 otherwise be planting his trees. Again, it is generally better to 

 buy trees in the fall, when the stock of varieties is full and when 

 the best trees are yet unsold : these trees must be kept until plant- 

 ing time, and it is about as cheap and fully as safe to plant them 

 directh' as to heel them in until spring. 



In fall planting, however, it is important to insist that the trees 

 shall be thoroughly well matured. In order to move stock 



