FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 151 



PLANTING THE TREE. 



The ground should be smooth and in good tilth. Plowing along the 

 line of tree rows mav lessen the hand labor somewhat, and afford oppor- 

 tunity for surface drainage, but the holes must be dug by hand. The 

 harder the ground, the wider and deeper the holes should be. In all 

 cases they should be wide and deep enough to receive all the roots 

 of the tree without it being necessary to crowd or twist them. If the 

 bottom is hard, it should be picked until it is mellow, or some loose 

 surface soil should be thrown in. Never throw coarse manure or sods 

 into the bottom of the hole, hoping to furnish humus and fertility to 

 the tree. While they are decomposing, they absorb moisture and cause 

 heating, which is sure to injure the roots of the tree. 



When the young tree is dug in the nursery, a portion of the root 

 system is removed, some roots are broken and the ends of others are 

 ragged or torn. These broken roots and ragged ends should be cut off 

 smoothly so that the cut surface will lie upon the bottom of the hole. 

 Then if there is an abundance of fine roots, especially under the crown, 

 they should be thinned out. If the trees are heeled-in in the fall, this 

 root pruning may be done then and by spring the cut surface will have 

 calloused over, though usually the roots are pruned just before planting. 



If a stake has been placed to indicate the proper location of each tree, 

 this location will be lost when the stake is pulled and the hole dug, 

 unless a planting-board is used. This is a thin board 3 to 4 inches wide 

 and 4 to 6 feet long, with a notch at its center and at each end. Before 

 digging the hole, the planting-board should be placed on the ground 

 with the notch in the center against the stake. (See Plate 1.) Then 

 a stake should be driven in the ground fitting in the notch at each end. 

 The board should then be lifted, laid aside and the hole dug, the board 

 is then returned to its place and the tree stood in the notch, the exact 

 original location of the stake. This is an accurate method of placing 

 the tree, but many consider it too slow to be practical in large fields. 

 In large fields the sighting method is usually to be preferred. 



For convenience and rapidity, two men can work together in planting 

 the trees. One man should stand the tree in its proper place in the hole 

 and carefully spread out the roots in their natural direction. Then the 

 second man should throw in some loose, moist surface soil, a little at a 

 time, so that it thoroughh' covers the roots on all sides, underneath, 

 as Avell as above, and especially under the crown of the tree. After this 

 has been done, and the ground is tramped firmly, the hole may be filled 

 and be tramped more rapidly. Finally, the soil should be left mellow 

 at the top, so that it will not bake and permit much moisture to escape. 

 When the hole is filled, the tree should stand about two inches lower 

 in the ground than it did in the nursery, except with dwarf pears, which 

 should be set from three to six inches below the bud of graft. 



In the case of fall planting, the ground should be mounded up about 

 tlie trunk of the tree, and so ])rovide ample surface drainage. Trees 

 planted on locations exposed to strong prevailing winds, should be 



