FRUIT CULTURE. 741 



cold and wet, the roots cannot penetrate the necessary depth into it, but will be forced by the 

 cold too near the surface, and hence will be affected by the extremes of heat in summer and 

 cold in winter, deriving but little benefit from the soil below the shallow strata of earth they 

 occupy. The trees under such circumstances may grow well for a time, but the conditions are 

 unnatural and uncongenial, and such orchards will invariably be short-lived and unprofitable. 

 When the soil is such that the roots can penetrate deep into it and find a congenial 

 element of growth and sustenance, it will also admit of thorough cultivation, and the plow 

 may be used close up to the tree without striking and tearing the roots, which will thus have 

 a wide, deep range, secure from heat and drouth in summer, and cold in winter; hence there 

 is a healthy and vigorous growth, and such orchards, other conditions being equal, are long- 

 lived and productive. Thorough preparation of the soil should be made if necessary before 

 setting out an orchard; this can be afforded, since it is to last during the lifetime of the trees, 

 and not like grain and other crops to be repeated yearly. In deep, rich, mellow soil but little 

 preparation will be necessary. Some of the most successful fruit-growers recommend land 

 for orchards where a hoed or grain crop has been grown a year or two previous. Green 

 lands where the sod has been turned under six or eight months before the time of trans 

 planting, thus having had sufficient time to become decomposed, is also good. 



It is quite essential that the soil should either be deeply plowed or spaded. Trees may 

 also be planted in sod land when necessary; in such cases, if the sods on being replaced, are 

 reversed, and covered with a thick mulch, they will generally rot in a short time. In digging 

 the holes for setting the trees, care should be used to make them large and deep enough to 

 give plenty of range to the roots. The good surface soil should be kept separate from the 

 poorer subsoil, the surface soil to be well worked in about the roots, the subsoil not to be 

 used at all if of very poor quality. It is a good plan to put bones lightly covered with soil 

 in the bottom of the holes which, being under the roots, will by their gradual decomposition 

 furnish nutriment for the growing trees for years. &quot;Wood ashes, muck, partially or thoroughly 

 decomposed chip dirt are also excellent, these being much better than stable manure for the 

 purpose. Strong or unfermented manure should never be placed in direct contact with the 

 roots, but if used should be first covered with the soil. As trees are so long-lived they are 

 well worth careful planting. 



An extensive fruit-grower says: &quot; The best fertilizer to use in setting fruit-trees of all 

 kinds is partially or thoroughly decomposed chip dirt. &quot;We made use of the material for the 

 first time some twenty years ago in planting an apple orchard, and it was a wonder to those 

 not in the secret what caused the trees to make such a fine growth the first season, and 

 afterward, too, for that matter. The experiment was so satisfactory that when we set out our 

 new orchard, we made a liberal use of this material, with the same satisfactory result. These 

 trials have proved to our satisfaction that chip dirt is the very best material to mix in the 

 soil as you plant the tree that can possibly be used, for the reason that it holds moisture, and 

 is full of plant food; therefore, it promotes a most luxuriant, natural, and healthy growth. 

 Repeated trials have satisfied me that a tree is not only more likely to live, but will make 

 double the growth the first year (especially if a dry season) if some two bushels of chip dirt 

 are properly used in its setting, than it would without it. A single trial will convince the 

 most skeptical that the best possible use that can be made of this valuable material is to apply 

 it to the soil in planting trees in order to push forward the tree during the first precarious 

 stages of its growth.&quot; 



Always select the most vigorous trees for planting. If there are any bruised or broken 

 roots, it is well to cut them off before planting, always cutting from the under side, the 

 bottom of the excavation being regulated to leave the soil a little the highest in the center. 

 Arrange the roots as far as possible in their natural position, the trunk being steadied by the 

 land, the lowest roots being first sought ou|; and laid outward in radiating lines from the 



