FRUITS 221 



The very long roots may also be cut back. In setting 

 trees keep all roots straight. The earth taken from near 

 the top of the hole is generally the richest, so this soil 

 should be placed near the roots. The earth must be firmly 

 packed around the- roots so as to keep them thoroughly 

 moist. If the soil were put in without packing, air-spaces 

 would be left and the roots would become dry. The upper 

 layer of soil, however, must be left loose as a mulch to re- 

 tain the water in the lower layers. If a tree is loosened 

 before it has formed a full set of roots, it is apt to die 

 because the shaking causes air-spaces to be left around 

 the roots instead of moist soil. The tree ought to be set 

 in the ground at least as deep as it grew in the nursery row. 



Pruning at the time of transplanting. When a young 

 tree is dug up, a large proportion of its fine roots and 

 root-hairs are broken or stripped off. When it is trans- 

 planted, there will not be at first enough feeding roots to 

 supply food and water to all the leaves. The top of the 

 tree should, therefore, be cut back to balance the loss of 

 roots. The cutting off of some of the limbs is called 

 pruning. Most fruit trees at the time of transplanting 

 have to be severely pruned in order (i) to keep the leaf 

 surface balanced with the feeding roots, and (2) to cause 

 the tree to grow in the desired shape. 



Shaping the young tree. When young apple and peach 

 trees are not pruned the central shoot grows more rapidly 

 than the side branches. This forms a tall, slender tree, 

 with few limbs, which bend and break when heavily loaded 

 with fruit. Much of the fruit on unpruned trees is borne 

 too high to be easily gathered. To prevent these troubles, 



