28 FRUIT BOOK. 



reaches below the frost, it would seem to be en- 

 tirely removed beyond its action. My soil being 

 very light, the roots of the trees had no difficulty 

 in extending to the length I have mentioned. 



" Another benefit, as it seems to me, of a light, 

 sandy soil, for young pear trees, is this, that being 

 so porous, it is less retentive of moisture than 

 stiff and strong soils, which is the kind of soils 

 upon which pear trees are usually attempted to 

 be raised. The wetter the soil, the greater would 

 seem to be the action upon it of the frost. It 

 would freeze and thaw, in early spring, with 

 greater violence to the young roots; such soil 

 would heave more than a dry one, and in heav- 

 ing would at length throw the tree up by the 

 roots, and expose it to the winds and weather. 



" The season after being transplanted, the trees 

 made a vigorous growth. The principal dressing 

 which they received was ashes applied occasion- 

 ally in small quantities and in its unspent state. 

 In August of that season, the second of their 

 growth, I budded about six hundred of the trees ; 

 the rest, not being of sufficient size for that pur- 

 pose, were left unbudded. The ground upon 

 which they then and have since stood, is similar 

 to that in which the seed was originally sown, 

 light and sandy ; the trees have received no in- 

 jury whatever from the winter or early spring. I 

 am not aware that a single tree of the lot has 

 ever been thrown up or killed by the frost, and 

 they have never received any protection but from 

 the hand of nature herself. 



" My budded trees have made a fine growth the 

 past season; averaging perhaps four feet, some 

 reaching to nearly six feet in height. The trees 



