350 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



"round, and crop it with vegetables for at least ten years. "When 

 a regular plantation of fruit trees is to be made, it is far preferable 

 to choose a virgin soil, where, in tbe memory of men, no fruit trees 

 of auy kind have been grown or planted. In support of this opinion, 

 we could state many facts which have come under our observation ; 

 but the details would prove tedious to the reader. With regard to 

 the season for planting the pear tree worked on the pear stock, and 

 under tbe conditions of soil and situation above indicated, it coincides 

 with the fall of the leaves, or a little after, say from the fifteenth of 

 November to the fifteenth of December. In a strong and rather 

 moist soil the planting may be performed after winter, and as late 

 as the middle of March, but we prefer planting before winter. In 

 lioht soils, plantations made immediately after the fall of the leaves, 

 in the month of November, before hard frosts set in, are always the 

 best. In order that the trees may suffer as little as possible from 

 removal, their roots should not be allowed to dry by exposure to 

 the air. After being takeu up they should be immediately packed 

 in damp moss. When the trees arrive at the place where they are 

 to be planted, all bruised fibres should be cut off, and the larger 

 roots that may have been broken in taking up should be cut with a 

 sharp knife, commencing a little from the ends on to the under side, 

 and sloping upwards. 



For a tree two or three years budded the holes should be made 

 three feet wide, and two and a half feet deep. If the soil be strong 

 and compact, the holes may be proportionally wider aud deeper. 

 It is always advisable to put in the bottom of the hole a layer of 

 good light rich earth taken from the surface of a kitchen garden ; 

 aud the roots should be covered with some of the same sort of soil. 

 If the trees have been out of the ground for a week or two, owing 

 to some accident, and if the roots are consequently in a dry state, 

 they should be steeped for two hours at least in rain or pond water. 

 In light soil, and, in dry weather in spring, it is usual to water the 

 soil well about the roots before these are finally covered. This is 

 clone in order to close in the dry light soil about the roots. This 

 watering below the surface layer of soil facilitates the emission 

 of roots, and thereby injures tbe starting of the tree. When a tree 

 is planted in a hole, dug at least five or six days previously, it 

 ought to be so placed as to have its upper roots about two inches 

 above the level of the ground. The newly-stirred soil in the bottom 

 of the hole will gradually settle, so that the upper roots will ulti- 

 mately be as low as the surface of the soil. In planting the tree, it 

 is improper to shake or lift it up, for thereby the roots may be 

 imperceptibly broken or twisted. After planting it is advisable to 

 lay a good thickness of light soil over the roots, in order to support 

 the tree against the strong winter winds, and to protect the roots 

 from severe frosts which may occur. After the tree has taken root, 

 this extra layer of soil should he levelled off, in order that the solar 

 rays may exert their beneficial influence on the soil in contact with 

 the upper roots. Trees planted with these precautious succeed the 

 best. 



Any one may observe that fruit trees which emit ro.ts from 



