60 Practical Observations 



am willing to confess that all the knowledge which I have been 

 able to obtain, in tliis delightful work of man, was, without 

 doubt, well known and practised long before 1 became ac- 

 quainted with the profession of a gardener. However, sensi- 

 ble as I am of the truth of my last statement, I still think that 

 a great many individuals, who are in the habit of planting trees 

 annually, have not yet obtained the requisite knowledge that 

 will enable them to plant a tree in the best possible manner; 

 therefore, I have been induced to make these observations, 

 expressly for the perusal of those persons who are not already 

 acquainted with this desirable art; and if no more than one in- 

 dividual should be able to glean a particle of information from 

 them, which will be of service to him, my object will be in 

 some measure attained. 



The first consideration, in planting trees, is, to have a good 

 foundation to begin upon, viz., a fertile soil; and the greater 

 the depth, the greater will be the result. I shall suppose that 

 an orchard of apple trees is to be planted the coming spring, 

 where there is a depth of soil that will average from one to 

 one and a half feet, and which, is, at the present time, a grass 

 field, or has been under tillage one or more years. If there 

 is a stone wall around the field, there to remain, and not to be 

 removed, instead of planting the whole, or part of the field, I 

 should give the preference to the ground near the stone wall, 

 for the planting of the trees, in the following manner, viz: — 

 twenty-one feci apart in the row, and distant from the wall eight 

 or ten feet. The great advantage of this method over that of 

 field planting, is, that the whole of the ground will be clear 

 for such uses as it may be judged will be the most profitable, 

 and the fruit trees having been planted where I have proposed, 

 the cultivator may rest assured that they have been placed in 

 the situation which is the best adapted for their present and 

 future welfare, and, consequently, where they will afford the 

 greatest profit. 



If the planting of the trees near the wall, or otherwise, be 

 adopted, in either case the soil must be well prepared for their 

 reception, by ploughing very deep, twelve feet in width, and 

 the length as far as the wall extends, or the ground that is in- 

 tended to be planted. If this had been done in the autumn, 

 the frosts through the winter would meliorate the earth, and 

 the planting would be performed with less labor in the spring. 

 But if this part of the work has not been done, the whole can 



