716 MASS. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



by any writer. The distance at which the trees should be set, 

 is a point on which there is some difference of opinion, and a 

 still greater variety in practice. Forty feet every way is not 

 too much, and he who adopts this rule, will be surprised to 

 find in how few years the extreme ends of the branches will 

 meet. The square is generally preferred I believe to the quin- 

 cunx, or any other kind of arrangement, as more convenient 

 for agricultural operations. 



The time of year at which trees should be set, is a question 

 much debated by English and French horticultural writers. 

 In Europe, the autumn seems to be generally preferred ; and 

 there is a proverb quoted in the best English works on garden- 

 ing which runs, " Plant a tree at Michselmas (September 29) 

 and command it to grow; plant it at Lady-Day (March 25) 

 and entreat it." This rule is, however, often qualified by good 

 English and French writers, who state that in heavy or moist 

 ground, trees are best planted out at the latter period. The 

 sprhig is certainly preferred in New England. Now when we 

 consider that our short and capricious spring is the very busiest 

 portion of the year, and that much of our autumn is a time of 

 comparative leisure, it is fair to presume that our farmers did 

 not depart from the habits of their English ancestors without 

 good reasons. One of these reasons may have been the great 

 length and rigor of our winters, which leave the tree little chance 

 of establishing itself in the soil, before the ground is locked up 

 by the frost. It must be admitted, however, that the practice 

 of autumnal planting has scarcely had a fair trial, certainly 

 not in our day. 



To the success of planting, however, at any time, there are 

 two most essential requisites. The first is, that the tree be 

 properly taken up. By many persons, young fruit trees are 

 actually torn from the ground, and leave a large part of their 

 slender rootlets behind them. Now all naturalists agree that 

 these small fibres are in fact the organs through which the tree 

 draws the greater part of its nourishment from the soil, while 

 the main roots are in this respect comparatively inactive ; «and 

 yet trees are often sold with scarcely a root of less than a 

 quarter of an inch in thickness. The second requisite is that 

 the tree be carefully replanted. Many who plant a tree, says 

 Marshall, seem to think it enough to hide its roots in the 

 ground ; and we may add that they are often so effectually 



