114 SELECTDnG, PLAIsTING, and CUI.TIYATION. 



them to his vegetable garden, while the remainder 

 was retained as a lawn. The trees growing in the 

 trenched and cultivated garden are handsome pyra- 

 mids, ten feet high, and in bearing, while those in the 

 lawn, altlioiigh with a sj^ace of two feet around them 

 cleared from grass, have not perceptibly increa^d for 

 six years. 



MUIXHING. 



1^0 process will more essentially aid in sustaining 

 the life of a tree, enabling it to resist the rude shock 

 of being torn from its native soil, and inducing vigor- 

 ous growth, than mulching, or covering the soil with 

 any waste or half-decayed vegetable material. Tlie 

 half-rotted straw of the bottoms of stacks, leaves gath- 

 ered from the woods, the refuse clippings and tan-bark 

 from leather factories, are all of value for tliis purpose. 

 Covering the ground with these, three or four inches 

 deep, around the newly-planted trees, has the effect of 

 preserving a moist condition of the soil, and an even 

 temperature during the great heat of summer. A most 

 important element in the growth of plants is this pre- 

 servation of an equable temperature, as may be seen 

 in a cold vinery, wdiere the range of the thermometer 

 scarcely varies ten degrees during day and night. Tlie 

 mulching also protects the ground from excessive 

 evaporation ; so that, during long periods of drought, 

 the ground remains uniformly moist and light. To 

 the Pear this treatment is peculiarly grateful, for 

 there are few plants in Avhich respiration goes on so 

 rapidly, and which require such constant supplies of 

 moisture. A curious and instructive experiment is 

 narrated. A pear tree was grown in a large tub until 



