92 ON FRUIT TREES. 



vised to take them up and keep them during the cold 

 weather in the cellar, another proposed to cover them 

 with sea weed or tan — and a third suggested still an- 

 other course of treatment. As I knew not which method 

 to ado|)t, 1 determined to let them take their chance and 

 winter it out just as they stood. The result was, that 

 no injury whatever befel them — not one tree was des- 

 troyed by the co'd or frost or by any other cause. 



The following spring I removed the trees into rows 

 in the nursery, first taking off a part of the tap root. 

 This I found to be of great length, nearly one third 

 longer than the tree itself. This length of root may 

 have kept the trees from being thrown out of the ground 

 by the Irost, which, as I am informed, is one principal 

 cause of the destruction in winter of young pear trees. 

 As they make but few lateral roots, they are of course 

 more exposed to such an injury than other kinds of 

 young trees. Now if the tap root strikes deep, it has 

 the stronger hold upon the soil, and if it reaches below 

 the frost, it would seem to be entirely removed beyond 

 its action. My soil being very light, the roots of the 

 trees had no difficulty in extending to the length I have 

 mentioned. 



Another benefit, as it seems to me, of a light sandy 

 soil tor young pear trees is this — that being so porous 

 it is less retentive of moisture than stilf and strong soils, 

 which is the kind of soils upon which pear trees are us- 

 ually attempted to be raised. The wetter the soil, the 

 greater would seem to be the action upon it of the frost. 

 It would freeze and thaw, in early spring, with greater 

 violence to the young roots — such soil would heave 

 more than a dry one, and in heaving would at length 

 throw the tree up by the roots and exposed to the winds 

 and weather. 



The season after being transplanted, the trees made a 

 vigorous growth. The principal dressing which they 

 received was ashes applied occasionally in small quan- 

 tities and in its unspent state. In August of that season, 

 the second of their growth, 1 budded about 600 of the 

 trees — the rest not being of suilicient size for that pur- 



