86 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



answer the purpose required very well. Orchard trees are best planted in October or 

 November, as the roots then take to the soil at once. These operations are, however, 

 fully treated under "Planting." The circles on grass or arable land should be mulched 

 with manure after planting the trees, and their stems protected with wire netting a 

 yard high ; strips one foot or more wide placed around each tree, with the edges 

 duly fastened, and the netting let into the ground, render the trees safe against 

 hares, rabbits, and sheep. Or temporary protection of thorn or briar boughs can be 

 formed around each tree. Large cattle and horses should never be turned into young 

 orchards. 



As regards management after planting, it is only necessary to add that if a dry spring 

 and summer follow, the trees will require to be watered and the ground mulched over 

 the roots. This is most needed in the case of late-planted trees. 



The circles must be kept free of grass or weeds until the trees become well estab- 

 lished, which is not less than three years, and it is preferable to allow five to seven years 

 before sowing these down with grass. Where the whole of the ground is worked with 

 the intention of being kept under tillage for the years named before being laid down to 

 grass, root crops, such as potatoes, mangolds, turnips, or other green crops only should 

 be taken, avoiding cereals or any crop perfecting seed ; but the introduction of root or 

 vegetable crops of any kind to any considerable extent among the trees exhausts the 

 soil, and it is better to leave the ground bare than take crops without manure. No 

 tillage must be practised that disturbs the roots of the trees, a space, quite 6 feet in 

 diameter, being left round each tree, which must be kept clear of weeds, placing manure 

 on the surface in December, and leaving it as a mulch to be added to before hot weather, 

 where the soil is light and thin. If the trees grow sufficiently, omit the manure. The 

 surface of the soil, in the case of declivities, cannot be cultivated advantageously. If 

 the ground has been broken up 'it may be necessary to at once lay it down to grass, as, 

 with the surface bare and loose, the earth is often washed away by rains. Grass prevents 

 that, and is favourable to the running of the roots immediately under the surface ; conse- 

 quently they sooner feel the effects of heat in spring, and are more quickly thrown into 

 a torpid state by cold in autumn. Tillage amongst the roots of fruit trees is diametri- 

 cally opposed to those essentials in fruit culture, viz.. surface roots and their corollary 

 fruitful branches, and instead of cropping arable land or freshly broken-up ground, it is 

 much better to plant the whole with fruit trees, a temporary tree between each two of 

 those in the permanent rows, and between the permanent rows a temporary row of trees 



