146 SPADING AROUND THE TRUNK. 



It is not usual for grass plants to send out fibers 

 two feet ; but, admitting the distance ordinarily to 

 be only one foot, there must still be dug a ring a 

 foot wider on every side of the tree, if we would 

 prevent the grass from injuring the newly-extended 

 roots. Two feet added to the eight feet circle 

 already required, would make ten feet, which would 

 be the smallest dimension for cultivated circles for 

 dwarf pears the second year after they have been 

 transplanted, when surrounded by grass land. 

 When the trees have grown a few more years, the 

 cultivation should extend much further; in other 

 words, it should cover the whole surface, and noth- 

 ing less will answer under any circumstances. 



" There are many who do not cultivate their trees 

 at all, but allow them to stand in ground occupied 

 with weeds and grass, or hardened by summer 

 drought. The roots of such trees will not, of course, 

 travel very far ; and they will make but little 

 growth, or remain stationary. There are many 

 others wdio think it quite sufficient to spade a small 

 circle around each, according to the rule once given 

 by Mr. Downing, and copied since by other writers, 

 which is to extend the circle as wide as the spread 

 of the branches. The heads of my dwarf pears, 

 already spoken of, average two feet in diameter, 

 and a circle dug of this size, according to the rule, 

 would be only one-fourth the diameter of the roots, 

 and extend over but a sixteenth of their surface, 

 producing scarcely a perceptible benefit. 



