ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON PLANTING. 299 



even an inch need be allowed for settling ; for 

 the word covering, as we use it, means the dis 

 tance between the roots and the surface when 

 every thing has settled to its place. It must 

 be remarked, that some soils sink or settle 

 much more than others, and this condition must 

 also be taken into consideration. 



In planting on hillsides, if they are steep, 

 we make a considerable departure from ordi 

 nary conditions. It is often supposed that the 

 roots here are a foot or more deep, when they 

 are really not more than six inches. We sur 

 prised a large planter recently by convincing 

 him that his roots were six inches deep, and 

 not a foot. Care must be used, in planting 

 here, to have the roots deep enough on the face 

 of the hill : the hole would be better if dug a 

 little sloping. If the reader will exercise a little 

 good judgment in these and similar matters, he 

 will have little or nothing to fear from the win 

 ter killing of his roots, provided there is no 

 standing water about the roots or the collar of 

 the plant. Where much planting is done, it is 

 a good plan to divide the men into sets, select 

 ing two good men to put the plant in its 

 place, with enough soil worked around it to 

 hold it there, while others follow and fill up. 



