30 FRUIT FARMING 



method is to place it at the bottom of the hole. 

 This starts the trees into growth for a short time, but 

 as soon as the roots are through the layer of manure 

 and strike the subsoil, unhealthiness is bound to 

 set in. The second wrong way is to put too thick a 

 surface layer round the tree stem after planting. As 

 rains come, the action of water filtering through 

 manure, renders the land hard and unkindly, and if 

 left so it will in time become so caked as to throw 

 off the summer rains, leaving the young tree to perish 

 of drought. The right way is to almost finish plant- 

 ing without manure, leaving the hole wanting three 

 inches of soil to raise it to proper height ; then apply 

 two inches of well-rotted farmyard manure, covering 

 this with one inch of soil. In this way nutriment is 

 given gradually to the roots ; the natural moisture in 

 the soil is sufficient to allow the roots to benefit by 

 it, even in dry weather ; and instead of making the 

 surface hard and cakey, it renders it beautifully 

 friable, and will materially assist working the hoes to 

 keep down weeds in the following summer. 



Bearing in mind that the surface fibres are those that 

 nourish fruit, it is advisable that these be encouraged. 

 The chief mischief accruing to young trees arises 

 from too deep planting, and striking of the larger 

 roots into a badly drained or unsuitable subsoil, 

 causing canker, and apparently healthy trees may die 

 back wholesale. In a mild winter the sap scarcely 

 leaves the tree, when the branches being charged 

 with moisture, a severe and sudden frost ruptures the 

 cellular tissue, and perhaps the damage is not seen 

 until some months after, when the points of the shoots 

 die back, and even main branches split ; such trees 



