TEANSPLAi^TING STOCKS. 129 



Tlie quince^ the jparadise,^ and Doiicain^ do not require 

 such a deejp soil as the pear and the common apple seed- 

 lings, because their roots are fibrous and always remain 

 near the surface ; but it must not be infeiTcd from this 

 that a shallow soil suits these best. 



6th. When to Plant. — In parts of the country where 

 the winter is long and severe, or where freezing and thaw- 

 ing are frequent, fall planting cannot be successful, as the 

 plants, having no hold of the ground, are drawn out and 

 injured ; and besides, if the ground is somewhat clayey 

 and tenacious, the heavy rains that occur early in the 

 spring will make it so compact that air will not penetrate 

 it, and the young roots will form slowly and feebly. 

 When neither of these difficulties is to be feared, fall 

 planting is decidedly preferable. Spring planting should 

 be done at the earliest moment the condition of the ground 

 will admit, which is, when dry enough to crumble into 

 fine particles w^hen turned over with the spade. 



7th. Distance to Plant. — We are all in the habit of plant- 

 ing quite too closely in the nursery ; the consequence is that 

 the trees are not well proportioned. As a general thing, 

 the standards are in many cases as large six feet from 

 the ground as at the collar, weak and top heavy, so that 

 sticks have to be used to support them, even when four 

 years old. Not long ago I observed in a nursery which 

 has the reputation of being one of the best managed in 

 this country, whole squares, some thousands of four year 

 old apple trees, of all kinds, tied up to sticks ; they were 

 not able to support their own weight. One reason, and the 

 principal one, was, they were planted too close^ the other 

 will be spoken of presently. Pyramidal trees are out of 

 the question where such close planting is practised, the 

 growth is always forced to the top. l^ature gives us 

 numerous and striking illustrations of the effect of close 

 planting. We see in a natural group or thicket tree§ 

 6'^ 



