AMERICAN GARDENER. 189 



after having been a long while out of ground, the 

 shorter the time out of ground the sooner the 

 roots strike ; and, if the roots should get dry be- 

 fore planting, they ought to be soaked in water, 

 rain or pond, for half a day before the tree be 

 planted. 



287. If the tree be for an orchard it must be 

 five or six feet high, unless cattle are to be kept 

 out for two or three years, And, in this case, the 

 head of the tree must be pruned short, to prevent 

 it from swaying about from the force of the wind* 

 Even when pruned, it will be exposed to be 

 loosened by this cause, and must be kept steady 

 by a stake ; but it must not be fastened to a stake, 

 until rain has come to settle the ground ; for, such 

 fastening would prevent it from sinking with the 

 earth. The earth would sink from it, and leave 

 cavities about the roots. 



288. When the trees are short, they will re- 

 quire no stakes. They may be planted the se- 

 cond year after budding, and the first after graft- 

 ing ; and these are the best times. If planted in 

 the fall, the tree should be shortened very early 

 in the spring, and in such a way as to answer the 

 ends to be pointed out more particularly when we 

 come to speak of pruning. 



289. If you plant in the sfiring, it should be as 

 early as the ground will bear moving ; only, bear 

 in mind, that the ground must always be dry at 

 top, when you plant. In this case, the new roots 

 will strike out almost immediately ; and as soon 

 as the buds begin to swell, shorten the head of the 

 tree. After a spring-planting it may be neces- 

 sarv to guard against drought ; and the best pro- 

 tection is the laying of small stones of any sort 



