12 CORDON TRAINING. 



US before we are quite ready to undertake the whole at one 

 single time.* 



As to out-door planting on a larger scale, a mild day with 

 a gentle sun-heat is the most favorable time. Never plant 

 the trees on a level ivith the surface soil, but let them be 

 raised up above it in their own little mound, some four inches 

 above the surface. By the end of the first season the natu- 

 ral subsidence of the ground will bring them to their proper 

 level. This is very important to bear in mind, but is very 

 seldom attended to, although it is ruinous to the tree to neg- 

 lect this precaution.! 



The earth from the bottom of the pit, which should be am- 

 ple and large, should be placed in one side of the hole, and 

 that which came from the surface on the opposite side. 

 Then when your tree is planted, the upper soil should be 

 placed near the roots at tlie bottom, and the earth from the 

 lowest part, mixed with some leaf-mould and sand, will serve 

 well for the top. Place the tree on a gentle mound in the 

 centre of the hole, lightly powder the earth over and between 

 the central roots, but press down ratlier firmly the earth over 

 the extremities of the roots, having first well spread them 



[* This advice is for the mild climate of Great Britain ; in this country such 

 protection is insuflScient, as the November and hiter frosts would freeze the earth 

 in the pots, and not only injure the roots, — which should never be allowed to 

 freeze, — but the pots would be broken. If there is no place to house them safe 

 from frost, the pots or tubs should be sunk six inches below the ^trface in a dry 

 soil, and covered with a foot of leaves or strawy manure, and here they should 

 not be left out later than the middle of December. The proper place is a cellar 

 where the frost does not^enetrate. — c. m. h.] 



[tThis is another item of advice which is not altogether applicable in our dry 

 climate. A great deal has been written about planting trees too deep, and it is 

 well that cultivators should understand that such an error should be avoided. 

 But on the contrary it is not absolutely necessary to the success of the trees that 

 they should be planted " in their own little moun 1 above the surftxce," and that 

 it is " ruinous " to neglect it. All good cultivators advise planting the quince 

 below the surface, and of thousands of trees so managed we have not yet seen the 

 first instance of failure. In regard to other trees, the rule should be, to plant level 

 with the surface, so as to fairly cover the roots, unless in swampy or low wet 

 ground, and then " its own little mound " may be safest. Our hot sun, and long 

 summer droughts, would soon exhaust all the moisture from these little mounds, 

 and leave the tree to perish. — c. m. h.] 



