102 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



the last few inches at the surface pulverized, but untramped, unless 

 the soil be very light so that tramping will not overpack it. Some one 

 said long ago that one should not plant a tree as he does a post, 

 ramming down the earth to the very top of the hole. Many trees are 

 doubtless ruined by over zeal in this respect. 



The shovel has been mentioned frequently as the tool to be used 

 in planting. Where the soil is deeply plowed, well worked, and free 

 from stone, the shovel is the most rapid tool. Under other conditions 

 the long-handled spade, and in some cases the long-handled spading 

 fork, serves admirably in loosening the soil at the bottom of the holes 

 and in breaking up lumps while rilling in. One man with a shovel or 

 spade, and the other with the fork, make a good combination in this 

 respect. 



Planting in a Furrow. A practice which has been largely fol- 

 lowed in the Sacramento Valley and which attains greatest speed and 

 cheapness consists in laying off as described in the preceding chapter, 

 and then proceeding with a heavy listing plow, followed by a subsoil 

 plow in the same furrow. The trees are then rapidly set with the 

 least digging. This is all done before the field is plowed. Plowing 

 immediately follows planting. The advantages of this method are 

 ease of work on firm ground instead of a plowed surface, and escape 

 of injury to this surface by men and teams in planting after plowing. 

 It does not, however, prepare the land so well as deep working before 

 laying out. 



RANDOM SUGGESTIONS 



The roots of every tree should be examined before planting. All 

 large root ends should have a fresh, clean cut with a sharp knife or 

 shears. Make a slanting cut with the cut surface on the underside 

 of the root. Where a root is mangled or bruised, it should in most 

 cases be cut back to a sound place. 



The wound made by the cutting away of the seedling stock above 

 the bud should be at the north or, northeast, in order that this weak 

 point may be shaded as much as possible from the afternoon sun. 



If the roots of young trees grow more to one side than the other, 

 place the strongest roots toward the prevailing wind. 



The use of water to settle the earth around the roots is sometimes 

 desirable in sections where the rainfall is light or uncertain. Pour in 

 four or five gallons from the water wagon after the hand work in 

 spreading the roots and in pressing the soil under and around them 

 has been done and the hole partly filled. When the water has soaked 

 away, fill the hole with fine earth without tramping. In irrigated dis- 

 tricts leading the water along the line of trees in a furrow to settle 

 the ground at planting is a good practice. It is almost essential in the 

 planting of evergreen trees which are best moved during the dry 

 season. In early planting in parts of the State where the rainfall is 

 abundant, there may be no need of water-settling; puddling the roots, 

 or dipping them in thin mud and planting them with this mud adher- 

 ing, is governed by much the same conditions as water-settling ; it may 



