PLANTING HOW PERFORMED. 17 



established one or two years in a pot is ready for 

 any use. 



For out-door planting, if not on too large a scale, 

 trees thus potted are far the safest ; their roots 

 are more established, and are infinitely more full 

 > of fibres, and the indispensable spongioles are not 

 cut off in transplanting. This is the rule in the 

 case of more valuable and delicate trees : pears, 

 plums, and apples are easily managed. By hav- 

 ing a portion of your trees in pots, you may be 

 ready for your House if not already built, and 

 time will thus be gained. You may house them, 

 or leave them out of doors near some sunny spot, 

 protecting the surface of the pots from drenching 

 rains by a few slates. Some branches placed to 

 windward, and a mat around them, will preserve 

 any fruit tree from injury ; or it may so happen 

 that a friend has a spare corner in his own Orchard- 

 house, or a slight shed can be run up. All these are 

 simple means and obvious resources, if the season 

 for planting should come on us before we are quite 

 ready to undertake the whole at one single time. 



As to _j^ut-door ^planting on a larger scale, J 

 a mild day witE^a ,gentle sun-heat is the most S 

 favourable time. Never plant the trees on a ) 

 level with the surface soil, but let them be raised 

 up above it in their own little mound, some four ( 

 inches above the surface. By the end of the first ) 

 season the natural subsidence of the ground will J 

 bring them to their proper level. This is very ' 

 c 



