32 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Where, however, a small number of plants are to be set the best prepa- 

 ration is by trenching. You can trench at comparatively small expense 

 to the depth of eighteen inches or two feet ; or if you want a little bet- 

 ter work you can go to the depth of three feet, but more than that 

 will not be required. 



When you trench you have an excellent opportunity not only of dis- 

 carding those portions of the soil which are poor, throwing out any 

 stones which may interfere with the proper cultivation of the soil, but 

 you can also add manure. In this connection it should be stated that, if 

 jrou would give the most careful cultivation to our choicer shrubs j'ou 

 must make the same preparation that j^ou would give for growing fruits, 

 you should make your border deep, you should have mellow soil and 

 j-ou should incorporate manure so that it would last not only for the 

 first two or three years but for fifteen or twenty years; but the expense 

 is very considerable and you would do this only for the very choicest 

 sorts of plants, azaleas, rhododendrons, etc., from which we expect a very 

 considerable return in the form of flowers and foliage. 



As far as cultivation is concerned, you must give to such plants at 

 least as good care as you would give potatoes or corn. The plant or tree 

 after it has become established will withstand hard winters, loss of food 

 and trouble with the water supply ; but if you want the very best results 

 until these trees become established, I beg of you that you will give them 

 the same care that you Avould give to the crop of potatoes or corn that 

 you are growing, we will say, in competition for a prize. Go over the 

 ground, weed and see that the surface of the soil, particularl}'^ dur- 

 ing the hot, dry weather, is kept stirred once a week or once a 

 fortnight. It is very little ti-ouble and it will result not onlj' in a better 

 growth of the tree or shrub, but what is more important it gives the 

 tree a good send-off"; it makes it capable of resisting untoward circum- 

 stances from the first. W^henever there is anj'^ extensive planting to be 

 done it is well to establish a nursery. 



Set aside a portion of the ground which is to be devoted to the growth 

 of trees and shrubs and in that plant thickly and still give them 

 space to develop, have the rows three and one-half or four feet 

 apart so as to permit of horse-hoeing and in the rows plant a foot to 

 six fe^t apart, depending upon the growth we expect, and there let the 

 trees and shrubs grow for a number of years. In the first place, you save 

 money on the first cost ; you can get small plants cheaper than you can 

 get big ones; you do not have to pay so much freight; you can have 

 your plants grown under your own eyes, and, if you give them the same 

 care that you would give corn or potatoes, they will grow well. In fact, 

 one of the principal reasons for establishing a nursery is that you have 

 the plants so grown absolutely at your command. If the season opens 

 in March, you can plant in March ; if the season does not open until the 

 last of April, you need not be in correspondence with the nurseryman 

 hurrying him up nor are you troubled by too early arrival of the plants. 

 You have them at your command; you can choose that week of the 

 season, that day of the week, which is most suitable for planting. 



