CHAPTER VI. 



TIME OF PLANTING. 



WHEN the ground has been thoroughly prepared, 

 by under-draining, surface and sub-soil plowing, in 

 the way described in the former part of this treatise, 

 so that the land will not hold stagnant water, pear 

 trees may be planted with safety, either in the 

 spring or fall, as time and circumstances may permit. 

 If everything is in readiness, and it is decided to 

 plant in the fall, the trees may be removed from 

 the nursery row as soon as the leaves are shed, or the 

 leaf-buds fully developed. The labor of planting 

 may be continued, if the ground is dry enough to 

 work, until severe frost stops the operation. It is 

 a very wise plan to mulch trees planted in the fall 

 with hay, straw, long manure, or charcoal cinders. 

 This light covering of the ground as far as the roots 

 extend, prevents the frequent freezings and thaw- 

 ings, which often prove so injurious to the roots of 

 newly-planted trees. 



Some fruit-growers object to fall planting, on 

 account of the trees being left so long exposed to the 



