66 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



man with hoe and shovel to set your trees. Fill up j-our hole with 

 your best top soil and leaf mold, till you get it high enough so that 

 your tree will stand just as you want it. Now remove the stake 

 and set the tree in the same spot, taking care to keep it in line with 

 the stakes. Commence to set your tree with 3'our best soil 

 and leaf mold, tamp it firmly around the roots, taking care to keep 

 them in their natural position. When 3-ou have the tree two-thirds 

 set, pour on a dipper of water and let it settle around the roots ; fill 

 up the hole with alternate layers of soil, leaf mold and manure, 

 taking care not to have the manure come in contact with the roots, 

 but leave it mostly on the outside edge of the hole for the future use 

 of the tree in years to come. Spread on about two quarts of ashes 

 near the surface when the tree is nearlj^ set Scrape all the remain- 

 ing soil, leaf mold and manure in a circle around the tree, treading 

 it down firmly with your feet, and smooth it all off with a garden 

 rake. 



It costs something in money and labor to plant out a pear orchard 

 as it should be. But do your work thorough, and you will have an 

 orchard that you will feel proud of when it is done. The main object 

 to keep in mind in setting out fruit trees of all kinds is to imitate 

 nature, and provide the trees with such fertilizers as will make the 

 soil as near the virgin state as possible, so as to stimulate them to 

 a healthy as well as a vigorous growth. I know of no better way to 

 do this than by making a liberal use of leaf mold, decomposed barn- 

 3'ard manure, and a few ashes when planting the trees. There is 

 nothing equal to leaf mold for a mulch, and there is no danger of 

 using too much of it. 



When you procure your trees make a contract with some responsi- 

 ble nurseryman, or party, for just the kind of trees you want ; 

 specify the different varieties, all to be true to name, of the best, 

 clean, healthy stock, and hold him to his agreement, or make him 

 pay damages. You can get standards for fifty cents each, and 

 dwarfs for twenty-five cents, and perhaps less and get good trees. 

 Don't buy them of a tree peddler under any circumstances, for you 

 will be just as likely to get one-half of them crab apple trees, and 

 the other half you will not know any more about than you do of 

 Blaine's health, or whether he is going to be a candidate or not, by 

 reading the papers. 



You will observe that it takes just 110 standard trees, set twenty 

 feel apart each way, to plant an acre, which will cost, at fifty cents 



