NEW ENGLAND FRUIT BOOK. 



ROOT, SAP, ETC. 



THE root being the commencement and found- 

 ation of trees, its office is to collect and apply the 

 food which forms and determines its growth; 

 hence if roots grow luxuriantly, the branches will 

 also, and the reverse. " It often happens," says 

 Miller, " that the roots of trees are buried too deep 

 in the ground, which, in a cold or moist soil, is 

 one of the greatest disadvantages that can attend 

 fruits ; for the sap in the branches being, by the 

 warmth of the air, put strongly into motion early 

 in the spring, is exhausted in nourishing the blos- 

 soms, and a part of it is perspired through the 

 wood branches, so that its strength is lost before 

 the warmth can reach the shoots, to put them into 

 an equal motion in search of fresh nourishment, 

 to supply the expenses of the branches, for want 

 of which the branches fall off and decay. Most 

 trees will thrive if they have two feet in depth of 

 good earth, especially when their roots spread 

 near the surface ; for whether that which supplies 

 food for the tree be a black, yellow, or brown 

 Idam, it can only be furnished within a certain 

 depth from the surface, or within the influence of 

 the sun and air. Large roots, running deep and 

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