AMERICAN INSTITUTK. 339 



keep. All these and other qualities should be considered when trees are 

 selected to be planted in an orchard. 



" 2. Having selected his trees with reference to profit, and got the best 

 kinds of fruit, how shall he plant them? 



" Two rods each way is about the proper distance to plant an orchard. 

 On some land a larger distance is necessary, and on some less will do. 



" Make the hole for trees large and deep, and instead of putting the best 

 soil in the bottom and making it rich, inviting the roots down there for a 

 repast, fill it with stone, gravel, sand — anything that will drain off the excess 

 of water. This method all experience proves better than to fill with manure 

 or any rich soil. Then place in the tree, being careful to have all the roots 

 put about in the same position as when growing in the nursery. The prin- 

 cipal secret of success in making trees live, is to have the fine earth well 

 mixed among the roots, and then good cultivation will make them thrive. 

 Never buy trees till you can attend to setting them out. Never buy 

 trees that have been heeled in over winter. Frozen roots, unless frozen 

 in contact with the earth, are no better than roots dried in the sun. Trees 

 may be heeled in so as to have open spaces among the roots, and if frozen 

 in this condition, they are worthless. Never buy trees of a dishonest man. 

 What can be more vexatious than to purchase a supposed choice variety 

 of fruit and plant it, cultivate it, prune it, and watch its progress till it 

 blossoms and fruits, and then find you have been cheated? The fruit is 

 not what it was recommended, and perhaps the tree has to be mutilated by 

 regrafting. Nurserymen may be mistaken in the kind of fruit they sell, 

 but a man that will knowingly palm off an inferior fruit for a good one, is 

 guilty of the meanest kind of dishonesty. 



" Another rule I would advise is, never to buy trees from a long distance. 



" Agents are traveling the country getting orders for well known and 

 large nurseries, and then suppl}- their customers from any nursery where 

 they can buy cheapest, and with any kind of fruit. Trees dug and packed 

 for weeks, as is often the case in all large establishments, and unavoidably 

 so through the press of business, the delays of transportation, &c., will not 

 generally meet the expectation of the purchaser. It is therefore safer to 

 buy trees near home, to go to the nursery and dig them, and see that they 

 are set out again immediately. Do not buy trees that have been forced 

 too much in the nursery. Trees that grow rapidly through cultivation or 

 naturally, are not hardy, and will not do well under different treatment. 

 Any tree that grows quick will decay quick. Do not buy trees that have 

 been stunted in the nursery, any more than you woulc buy a stunted calf 

 or pig. Trees that have been stunted are not worth receiving as a gift. 

 Better pay a good price for good trees. 



The next meeting will be held next Monday. 



The Club adjourned. 



H. MEIGS, Secretary. 



