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Rural School Leaflet 



.Planting the tree. — After the surface soil is placed in the bottom of 

 the hole and the roots have been pruned, we are ready to set the tree. 

 Only a few shovelfuls of earth should be thrown in at first. This soil 

 should be carefully sifted around the roots and then worked in closely 

 with the fingers. This process should be repeated until the root system 

 is entirely covered up. The dirt may then be thrown in and tramped 

 down firmly, leaving the soil around the tree a little higher than that of 

 the surrounding field because it will settle to some extent. The soil 

 should also be left loose on top so as to prevent drying out. If more 



Many of the roots are injured by the digger and must be cut back 



than one tree is to be set, the operation is repeated, setting the second tree 

 a distance of thirty to forty feet from the first. 



Pruning the tree. — The top of the tree will have to be pruned to some 

 extent; usually there are a number of undesirable branches that should 

 be removed. The two-year-old tree always has the branches of the head 

 formed when it is sent from the nursery, consequently the grower chooses 

 the best of these branches for forming the framework of the tree. Three 

 to five branches are commonly allowed to remain; these are chosen in 

 such a way that a well-balanced type of head is secured. These branches 

 should come out from the main trunk at distances of four to eight inches 

 apart and on different sides of the tree. This is in order to avoid the 

 formation of crotches later in life, and thus to eliminate as far as possible 

 the danger of the tree's breaking down when laden with fruit or when 



