Details of Planting an Orchard 93 



sighting in the opposite direction, then the latter and the 

 fourth man fill the hole with finely pulverized soil, while the 

 one who is handling the tree works the soil in among the 

 roots very completely and packs it down firmly. When the 

 hole is filled even full, the tree, as previously pointed out, 

 usually should stand a few inches deeper than it stood in the 

 nursery. 



Special precautions should be taken in planting trees to 

 insure the close packing of the soil about the roots. Nothing 

 is so good as the fingers with which to work the soil in among 

 them, though very slightly moving the tree up and down after 

 a few shovelfuls of soil have been placed in the hole will help. 

 Usually tamping the soil with the feet from time to time will 

 effect such firming of it as is necessary. 



A crew of four men working as above outlined should plant 

 at least 500 trees in a day of ten hours. Under very favorable 

 conditions, a particularly efficient crew may plant tw^o or even 

 three times that number. How^ever, when these larger 

 numbers are planted, the holes may not be filled completely 

 at the time, since if enough soil is put in place to cover the 

 roots well, the filling can be completed later and if need be by 

 less experienced men. Finishing the work should not be too 

 long delayed, especially if conditions are such that the soil 

 is losing moisture rapidly. Otherwise the roots may become 

 dry. 



While the methods described above for preparing peach 

 trees for planting and the details mentioned are those 

 commonly followed, other practices are employed more or 

 less. One of the widest departures from common practice 

 is the " Stringfellow method" of root pruning in planting, 

 so called from the name of its discoverer and chief advocate, 

 the late H. M. Stringfellow of Texas. The distinguishing 



