52 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



transplanting trees, it may be observed, that thej 

 should not be replanted deep in the soil, since 

 the most nutritive or salubrious parts of the 

 earth are those within the reach of the sun's 

 warmth, of the descending moisture, and of the 

 air. And as .the root fibres of trees, like those 

 of seeds, always grow toward the purest air and 

 brightest light, it follows, that the root fibres 

 seldom rise higher in the ground than they were 

 originally set, and seldom elongate themselves 

 perfectly horizontally ; so that when a fruit tree 

 is planted too deep in the earth, it seldom grows 

 in healthy vigour, either in respect to its leaf 

 buds or flower buds. For a more particular descrip- 

 tion of the method of planting fruit trees, I quote 

 the language of Mr. Marshall, as follows : " De- 

 scribe a circle about five or six feet diameter for 

 the hole. If the ground be in grass, remove the 

 sward in shallow spits, placing the sods on one side 

 of the hole ; the best of the loose mould placed by 

 itself on another side, and the dead earth, from the 

 bottom of the hole, in another heap. The depth 

 of the holes should be regulated by the nature of 

 the sub-soil. Where this is cold and retentive, the 

 holes should not be made much deeper than the 

 cultivated soil. To go lower, is to form a recepta- 

 cle for the water, which, by standing among the 

 roots, is very injurious to the plants. On the con- 

 trary, in a dry, light soil, the holes should be made 

 considerable deeper ; as well to obtain a degree of 

 coolness and moisture, as to be able to establish 

 the plants firmly in the soil. In soils of a middle 

 quality, the hole should be of such depth, that 

 when the sods are thrown to the bottom of it, the 

 plant will stand at the same depth in the orchard 

 as it did in the nursery. Each hole, therefore, 

 should be of a depth adapted to the particular root 

 planted in it. The holes ought, however, for va- 

 rious reasons, to be made previous to the day of 



