110 FAMILY RECEIPTS. 



potato or two, or a gill of flaxseed or oats, may be ad- 

 vantageously placed in the hole before the tree is set, 

 and a pail of water turned in after the hole is two thirds 

 filled. The rich earth affords nutritive pasture for the 

 young roots to range in: the potatoes, &c. keep the 

 ground loose and moist, and enable them to roam freely ; 

 and the water brings the earth in contact with the roots, 

 .'md prevents them from becoming mouldy. Keep the 

 ground free of grass as far as the roots extend ; for these 

 exhaust the moisture and nutriment necessary to the 

 plant, and exclude from the roots air and heat, the indis- 

 pensable agents to vigorous growth. Treat your trees 

 as you would favorite corn hills which you wish to make 

 the most of, except give them no unrotted dung. Wash- 

 ing with a strong ley in May will destroy insects, and 

 promote the health and vigor of your trees. 



To persons living remote, or who are unable to obtain 

 their trees for early spring planting, we recommend that 

 they procure them in the autumn, and lay them in hy tlie 

 heel^ as nurserymen technically term it, which is merely 

 to dig a trench on a dry piece of ground, laying the earth 

 on one side — the trench wide enough to contain the 

 roots ; put the roots into this, close together, letting the 

 stocks rest in an inclined position upon the bank of 

 earth, and then cover the roots and a part of the stocks 

 with earth. In this way they escape injury from the 

 frosts of winter, and are in readiness for early planting 

 in the spring. Besides, better plants are generally ob- 

 tained in the autumn than in the spring, after nurseries 

 have been culled. 



TO MANAGE ORCHARD GROUNDS. 



"The whole ground of an orchard should be dug in 

 the autumn, and laid up in a rough state for the winter, 

 giving it as much surface as possible in order that the 

 weather may fully act upon and meliorate the soil; thus 

 following it as far as the case will admit. Observe to 

 dig carefully near to the trees, and so as not to hurt 

 their roots and fibres. If the soil be shallow, and if 



