PREPARATION OF SOIL FOR ORCHARD. 227 



first opening of spring, the young tree is ready for its 

 cummer's growth. Such is not the case with trees that 

 have been badly planted in the fall, in a wet, tenacious 

 soil, where their roots have been immersed in mud and 

 water for months, and the swaying top has strained them 

 in every direction. For such a soil, draining is needed ; 

 but, even then, the mound will be of material advantage 

 in fall planting. 



MULCHING is a process about which much has been said 

 and written, but of which, it is to be feared, very little is 

 known and understood. The very objects of mulching 

 do not appear to be properly appreciated by many per- 

 sons. Its uses are two-fold : primarily, to keep the sur- 

 face of the earth moist by preventing evaporation, and to 

 maintain that open, friable condition we always find in the 

 forest, under the natural mulching of the leaves. Mulch- 

 ing keeps the earth cooler in summer and warmer in win- 

 ter ; the first, by shading from the burning rays of the sun, 

 the second, by protecting from frost ; the material itself, 

 and the confined air among it, being bad conductors of 

 heat. Now, what material shall we use for producing 

 these results ? Almost anything that will fulfill these in- 

 dications will answer either stones, chips, boards, twigs, 

 saw-dust, tan-bark, weeds, straw, either long or cut, 

 coarse manure, hay, freshly-cut grass, or, perhaps the very 

 best for all the purposes of mulching, leaves themselves, 

 except that they are difficult to retain in their place. A 

 combination of leaves and twigs, small branches or weeds, 

 may be made to answer a very good purpose, for winter 

 mulching especially. For summer mulching there is an- 

 other material which has been found to answer an admir- 



