226 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



adopted the plan of inclining all their trees to the south- 

 west at the time of planting, expecting thus to overcome 

 the difficulty so commonly observed everywhere with tall 

 trees their leaning to the northeast, and then becoming 

 scorched and injured by the frost and sun, and damaged 

 by the borers. 



The season for planting is a question of some impor- 

 tance, and must be settled by the attendant circumstances. 

 Fall planting has many advocates and many advantages, 

 but the fewest practice it. In the far north, with a long, 

 trying winter approaching, it can not be recommended ; 

 but, as the spring advances, there is a great press of work ; 

 everything is to be done at once, and all is hurry ; hence, 

 for the milder latitudes, with our charming autumnal 

 weather, comparative leisure, and the soil in good condi- 

 tion, everything invites us to plant in the autumn, and 

 with those south of latitude forty degrees, the planting 

 season will often continue until mid-winter. If we com- 

 mence this work before the fall of the leaves, care should be 

 taken to strip these appendages from the trees in the nur- 

 sery, before digging them. Instead of leaving the soil 

 about the tree at or a little above the general level, it 

 should be heaped up in a little mound, which will shed cff 

 the rains, support the stem, and, to some extent, protect 

 the roots from frost. This last suggestion is a matter of 

 much importance, for one of the great advantages of au- 

 tumnal planting, depends upon the fact that, except in the 

 most severe weather, the tree is not dormant the hyber- 

 nation is not complete ; in mild weather there is some ac- 

 tion in the buds and branches, and considerable activity 

 exists in the roots ; new fibres are emitted, and, with the 



