136 TREE-PLANTING. 



carefully fills in the earth, which sJiould be made very 

 fine, no coarse clods being shovelled in, the roots of 

 the tree being carefully spread in the pit (this method 

 being termed " pit-planting "), so that each fibre is 

 perfectly covered with soil. Most of the leading tree 

 planters have recommended that while this operation 

 is being performed the boy ought to move or shake 

 the plant as the man fills in the hole, but with this I 

 do not agree, as the roots are apt to get twisted and 

 lie out of place, and even occasionally to be broken, by 

 this being done. The earth should then be pressed 

 down with the feet, the tree standing about an inch 

 deeper in the soil than it formerly stood in the nursery, 

 and when the earth is dry it is expedient not to pile 

 the soil up in the shape of a little hillock, which is 

 frequently done, round the stem of the tree, but to 

 adopt the opposite method, and have a concavity 

 round it which will hold rain and moisture, and tend 

 to establish the tree in its new position. On hillsides 

 this should especially be attended to, by forming the 

 outer edge of the pit high enough to intercept the 

 rain, which would otherwise run down the hillside, 

 and the tree thus lose the benefit which it would 

 derive from the supply of moisture. I shall, how- 

 ever, now take leave of this part of my subject, and 

 proceed to that of ornamental planting. 



Persons requiring only a few trees for the adorn- 

 ment of their gardens and dwellings can seldom afford 

 the time to raise them for themselves from seed, from 

 layers, or cuttings, but will find it the more satisfactory 

 course to obtain what they require from some respec- 

 table nurseryman upon whom they can depend. 

 Much however may be done by judiciously grafting 



