ROOTS 9 



short. If the rainfall is heavy, fruit-trees are shallow-rooted, 

 if light deep-rooted. The want of air, the absence of beneficial 

 lower organisms, an excess of water, and the presence of noxious 

 substances in subsoils check the roots downward. The root 

 systems of all pomological subjects are greatly altered by being 

 transplanted. As a rule, the oftener a plant is transplanted, 

 the more compact and shallow the root system. The depth to 

 which the roots of fruit-plants penetrate the earth is usually 

 much less than is generally supposed, while the spread is far 

 greater. In heavy soils the roots of fruit-trees are mostly in the 

 top ten inches, with a few main roots going deeper to anchor 

 the tree, while the spread of roots is usually much greater than 

 that of the branches, — sometimes twdce or even three times as 

 great. 



