IN OUR ORCHARDS 175 



fall, heel them in over winter, and plant them just 

 as soon as the ground is in good condition in the 

 spring. 



The choice between spring and fall for planting 

 depends upon the nature of your soil. If sticky clay, 

 liable to be sodden or lumpy, I would plant in the 

 spring, but not until the fields are in good condition. 

 You might as well burn a tree as to plant it in mud. 

 If planted in the autumn, stake the trees and tie them 

 with basting or coarse twine so firmly that they 

 cannot be twisted about by the winter winds. What 

 we want is an easy and quick start of the buds, but 

 we want first a good start of the root system. 



It hardly needs to be said that nearly all apple 

 trees prefer clay soil to sand, yet a few sorts, like 

 the Winesap and Jonathan, prefer light soils. The 

 size of the apple and the quality alike depend upon 

 having the soil that suits, together with plenty of 

 sunshine. I advise you to plant your apple trees 

 where they can have the best of your acres and plenty 

 of room. 



Three things are of vital importance at this point. 

 The first is good drainage. In most of our clay 

 soils I would use up the stones by creating ditches 

 every fifty feet. If tile drains are used, they can 

 be easily arranged for irrigation as well as drainage. 

 Dry tillage means only a way of preventing water 

 from evaporating and of gathering water from the 

 air without rain. This is done by keeping the sur- 



