44 



FRUIT-GARDENING. 



good proportion of the branches, when most of the roots are 

 left in the ground. If all the top be left on, and most of the 



roots cut off, the tree will not thrive so well; and it is far 

 more liable to die. 



KEEPING THE SOIL CLEAN. 



The ground where trees are planted must be kept cultivated, 

 as young trees will not thrive if the grass be permitted to form 

 a sod around them ; and if it should be necessary to plant them 

 in grass grounds, care must be taken to keep the earth mellow 

 and free from grass for three or four feet distant around them ; 

 and every autumn some well-rotted manure should be dug in 

 around each tree ; and every spring the bodies of the Apple, 

 Pear, Plum, and Cherry-trees, and others that it is particularly 

 desirable to promote the growth of, should be brushed over 

 with common soft soap, undiluted with water. This treatment 

 will give a thriftiness to the trees surpassing the expectation of 



