DEEP PREPARATION WRONG. 33 



Hitchcock, embracing about one-quarter of an acre, was 

 originally a pond, which I had filled up fully two feet with 

 good surface soil before the trees were set. I expected to 

 see an extraordinary growth on this spot, and was greatly 

 surprised, at the end of two years, to find them steadily fall- 

 ing behind the balance, that stood on ground broken only 

 four or five inches. To remedy this, to me, then, most mys- 

 terious condition of things, I yearly applied an increased 

 quantity of fertilizer to this spot, but without avail, and now, 

 at the end of fourteen years, it is plainly discernible by the 

 inferior size of the trees that stand upon it. 



I will now close this part of my subject with a letter 

 recently received from Mr. C. B. Patterson, of Payne's 

 Depot, Scott County, Ky. 



MR. H. M. STRINGFELLOW. 



Dear Sir Having read with great interest your article in Texas 

 Farm and Ranch on the subject of ' A Deep Preparation of the 

 Ground for Trees Wrong," please allow me to thank you for a per- 

 fectly clear explanation of a mystery in horticulture that greatly 

 puzzled my old father, now dead, as well as myself, and all my 

 neighbors who know the fact. The old man was always a great lover 

 of trees, and as the black walnut is a natural growth here, wherever 

 the squirrels hid the nuts in fall, around in the scattering woods, that 

 stood on his virgin pasture soil, as they often did, he would fence in 

 the young groves in spots where the trees came up, to protect them 

 from the stock. In a few years, tall, vigorous, handsome walnut 

 groves rewarded his care, with no other attention, for the young trees 

 seemed to laugh at the blue-grass sod. But wishing to extend these 

 plantings to a place neglected by the squirrels when they hid their 

 winter store, my father one day announced his intention of beating 

 them as a tree grower, and accordingly fenced off several acres, 

 which he had plowed and harrowed several times, and most 

 thoroughly prepared. When all was ready the places were checked 

 off, and, like the squirrels, he planted the nuts. They came up 

 nicely, and had the best of attention for several years, when he 

 turned them over to the grass as the squirrels' trees were. But all 

 to no purpose, for from the very first, in spite of all his care, he never 

 could make his trees grow like theirs, and died in total ignorance as 

 to how or why they beat him. This was twenty years or more ago, 

 and the trees are still standing here, to show for themselves, not 

 more than half as high or large as those planted by the squirrels 

 on the unbroken virgin sod. It affords me great pleasure to furnish 

 you this living and unanswerable proof of the correctness of your 

 position, that for tree seed, and, I presume, your close root-pruned 

 trees, which you claim to be even superior to seed, a firm, unbroken 



