ROOT-PRUNING. 343 



inexpedient for large orchards. He thus describes 

 the method of performing the operation : 



" A trench should be dug around the tree, about 

 eighteen inches from its stem, every autumn, just 

 after the fruit is gathered, if the soil be sufficiently 

 moist; if not, it will be better to wait until the 

 autumnal rains have fallen. The roots should be 

 carefully examined, and those which are inclined to 

 perpendicular growth cut with the spade, which 

 must be introduced quite under the tree on all 

 sides,! so that no root can possibly escape amputa- 

 tion, and all the horizontal roots, except those that 

 are very small and fibrous^ shortened with the knife 

 to within a circle of eighteen inches from the stem, 

 and all brought as near to the surface as possible, 

 filling in the trench with compost for the roots to 

 rest on. This should be well-rotted dung, and the 

 mould from an old hotbed, in equal parts, which will 

 answer exceedingly well. It may be found that after 

 a few years of root-pruning, the circumferential mass 

 of fibres will have become too much matted, and 

 that some of the roots are bare of fibres towards 

 the stem of the tree ; in such cases, thin out some 

 of the roots, shortening them at nine inches or one 

 foot from the trunk. This will cause them to give 

 out new fibres, so that the entire circle of three feet 

 or more around the tree will be full of fibrous roots 



^ This part of the work may be entirely avoided, if the bottom of the hole 

 is floored with tile-brick or stones, when the tree is planted. 



