MANURING THE ORCHARD. 13 



positions; their size must depend upon the size and kind of tree 

 planted. If the trees are to be planted in turf, it will be advis- 

 able to dig the hole three to four feet in diameter and to loosen 

 the subsoil somewhat. The surface soil should be thrown in a 

 pile by itself, to be used for filling around the roots, and the sub- 

 soil in another pile, to be spread upon the surface. 



If the soil is poor, it is necessary for success that some well 

 rotted manure or fertilizer be put with the soil for tilling in 

 about the roots. This must be thoroughly mixed with the soil, 

 or it ma}' result in injury rather than benefit. If coarse 

 manure only is at hand, it should not be used until the roots have 

 been covered with two or three inches of soil, when it may be 

 applied with safety. The amount to be used must vary accord- 

 ing to the poorness of the soil and the strength of the manure, 

 ranging from one to two shovelfuls of fine, well decomposed 

 manure; or from two to four large handfuls of fine ground 

 bone ; or one to two handfuls of the prepared bone and potash, 

 well mixed \vith the soil. Many people will blame the nursery- 

 man because the trees they plant do not grow, when the main 

 cause is in the fact that there is nothing in the soil to make them 

 grow. One has as good a right to expect a good crop of corn 

 from land with no fertilizing elements in it, as a good growth of 

 trees in a similar soil. If some of the people who fail in tree 

 planting from this cause, — and most failures do result from 

 starvation of the tree, — could see the amount of manure used by 

 the nurserymen and successful orchardists (and needed, too) to 

 make their trees grow, they would cease to wonder why theirs do 

 no better, and put the blame where it belongs. 



