146 THE APPLE CULTUR1ST. 



and returned to them thoroughly pulverized, all the little 

 fibres will be brought into contact with different portions 

 of soil that have not been exhausted of their fertility. Thus 

 comparatively new earth will settle around the roots, so 

 that in a short time the spongioles will begin to absorb 

 plant-food. Now, if a spade be used, such a large propor- 

 tion of the roots will be severed, that much of the source 

 of plant-food will be cut off. Forking around fruit-trees is 

 recommended only in certain instances. Mulching is better 

 than hoeing and spading, or scarifying with a horse-hoe. 

 When the soil is only a few inches deep, and the subsoil so 

 compact that but few roots can enter it, a careless man with 

 a spade will 'cut off more than half of all the roots, which 

 are the main sources of nourishment; and the growth of 

 the tree or plant will be retarded quite as much as if it had 

 just been transplanted. When a spadeful of soil is filled 

 with small rootlets and fibres, the spader had better be 

 spending his time in idleness, than mutilating the roots of 

 either ornamental or fruit trees. 



Many an excellent orchard has been nearly ruined by di- 

 recting some strong ploughman, who has been accustomed 

 to plough new land, to rip up every square foot deeply. 

 After fruit-trees have commenced bearing, the ground 

 should not be touched with a plough within a distance of 

 eight feet from them. If the soil requires renovating, top- 

 dress and mulch it. If it is so porous that the roots will 

 strike down readily below the reach of a common plough, 

 as roots of trees always do where there is no compact 

 substratum, there will be but little danger of mutilating 

 the roots of fruit-trees. A ploughman should possess suf- 

 ficient knowledge to judge correctly touching this subject. 

 In many sections of country, the surface-soil, resting on a 

 compact hard-pan, is so thin that a plough, if run ten inch- 

 es deep, would cut off almost the entire system of roots. 



