120 PLANTING. 



ery side. The roots are then to be covered with 

 soil gently pressed over them ; and the operatic n 

 must be finished by watering, so as to consolidate 

 the soil equally, without making it firmer on or e 

 part of the roots than another. If the soil shou d 

 have been previously dug, trenched, or loosened to 

 the depth of a foot, or probably two feet or thrc e 

 feet, the pit should not be made so deep as to thro *v 

 the neck or collar of the plant below, or even on a 

 level with the surface, when the soil is consolidate d 

 by watering. On the contrary, it must be left of 

 such a height above it, as that when the soil LS 

 finally consolidated by its own gravity, influenced 

 by the weather, the neck shall still be above tl e 

 general surface of the ground, and the plant stai.d 

 on a small hillock. This condition of planting can 

 not be too carefully attended to ; for nothing c;.n 

 be more injurious to transplanted plants than having 

 the neck buried more than it was in a natural stat3. 

 Nothing is more common than too deep planting ; 

 and the temptation to it is the greater, because 

 deep planted plants, from having the roots m&amp;lt;re 

 accessible to moisture, are more certain of grov- 

 ing the first year, and are less in want of mulch 

 ing to exclude the heat and drought, and of staking 

 to prevent them from being moved by the wind. 

 Hence, in planting trees or shrubs, it is of the 

 greatest importance, not only with a view to their 

 future growth, but also to their natural appearance 

 above the surface, to have them planted on little 

 hillocks, greater or less in height, according as the 

 soil may have been moved to a greater or less 

 depth, either in the operation of digging the pit in 

 firm soil, or in planting in soil which has been 

 moved by digging, or trenching, or otherwise. ]n 



