ORCHARDS. 81 



ries, plums, and standard pears. If the leaves are removed, 

 tliej may now be taken up and transplanted as well as at any 

 time in x'Vutumn, or the following Spring. Others have not 

 fully completed the ripening of the young wood, Avliich is 

 effected through the assistance of the leaves. The only harm 

 done in taking them up, at this time, is in getting immatured 

 shoots on some parts of the trees, instead of those well-ripened 

 and hardened; and the result will be that some of the tips 

 may be nipped by the frosts of Winter, or they will not start 

 in Spring with so much certainty and vigor. Hardy kinds, 

 such as the apple, will not be much injured in this way; and 

 the peach, although tender, should be shortened back in Spring 

 in any case. 



It will be safe, therefore, with few exceptions, to take up 

 trees any time after the 1st of October — care being taken to 

 do the work well, as already indicated. 



The soil should be in such condition as to be easily made 

 fine and mellow, so that it may be filled in perfectly among 

 the roots without having interstices. Staking against wind, 

 or eifecting the same purpose by a small mound of earth, 

 should not be omitted." (These mounds should be removed 

 in the course of the Summer — their use is very doubtful. The 

 stake is injurious, unless carefully wrapped or padded — a few 

 flac rocks around the stem, where they can be had, is better 

 than either, as they help to retain the moisture, and no winds 

 can displace the tree. If the situation is not exposed to high 

 winds, and the tops are light, no staking is necessary. If the 

 free motion of a young tree is prevented by staking, it retards 

 growth and elasticity, and is detrimental to vigor and health.) 

 We never succeeded better than by taking up trees about 

 mid-x\utumn, heeling them in by burying the roots and half 

 the stems for wintering, and setting out early in Spring. They, 

 however, do quite as well set out in Autumn, provided they 

 are hardy sorts, and the site is not a windy one. In heeling 

 in for winter, it is absolutely essential to fill all the interstices 

 among the roots very compactly with fine earth. Many trees 

 are needlessly lost by carelessness in this particular. The 

 roots are injured by dryness or mouldiness, and the mice find 

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