PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE 123 



may feed freely and uninterruptedly. In order 

 to do this there must not be a great am^ount of 

 moisture in the soil when planting is done; for 

 moist earth packs in chunks rather than sifts, 

 not only leaving rootlets hung in its midst but 

 tearing many of them from the plant by reason 

 of its weight. Therefore choose a dry time rath- 

 er than a wet one for planting. 



Holes must be dug to the full size of the 

 spread of the roots after these have assumed 

 their normal position, and to six inches below 

 the depth of the deepest of them. Remember 

 that roots grow at their tips, out and dowriy just 

 as branches grow out and up; see that these tips 

 are turned down, therefore. I speak of this par- 

 ticularly because there is always a tendency to 

 shirk when it comes to making a hole the full 

 depth required and full size all the way down; 

 indeed I think I may say that I have never 

 found a gardener, amateur or professional, who 

 did not exhibit this tendency to a very marked 

 degree. So I am perfectly certain the average 

 beginner is not going to prove an exception — 

 for he is pretty sure to be in a hurry and to want 

 results, not work. It will not do to cheat, how- 

 ever, nor to assure oneself that it cannot matter 

 much. The depth at which roots have estab- 

 lished themselves below the surface is the depth 



