74 THE APPLE 



around the roots of the tree should be the topsoil, which the digger 

 has placed at one side of the hole, the poor subsoil having been 

 thrown on the other side. The second boy then goes after another 

 tree, leaving the man who does the filling in to give the final 

 treading and to put a loose layer of soil on the surface. The holes 

 are dug just broad enough to accommodate the roots and just 

 deep enough to allow the trees to be planted to the same depth 

 that they stood in the nursery row, or possibly one or two inches 

 deeper. 



Where there are few stones and nothing to impede the progress 

 of the workmen, a third boy may be advantageously used to bring 

 the trees, as they are required, or to do some other part of the 

 work. If two or three gangs are working on different rows, one 

 boy may supply trees to both gangs. 



In planting, care should be used not to expose the roots to the 

 drying effect of the air. It is an excellent plan, although not 

 always necessary, to puddle the roots ; that is, dip them in a thin 

 mud or paste of clay. In this way they are protected for a longer 

 period against the drying effects of the wind and sun. 



It is not well to plant trees when the soil is wet, for handling 

 it when in this condition changes its physical properties, and a 

 baked soil is the result. No fertilizer should be put into the holes 

 when the tree is planted. 



In setting the trees it may be well to slant them slightly toward 

 the direction from which the prevailing winds come. One well- 

 known orchardist recommends that, in order to insure as perfectly 

 shaped trees as possible, they be planted so that the lowest branch 

 points in that direction. 



Plowing out and planting. If conditions permit, the field can 

 be marked out and the soil partly removed with a plow. The gen- 

 eral plan of Van Deman and Yeomans, as described on page 58, 

 may be employed with the addition of two stakes, as follows : 



If the plowing is to start at M (Fig. 15), in the direction of 

 iV, let someone set a stake in line with the three original stakes, 

 but beyond N at F, so that when the driver has passed the 

 middle stake at E, he will still have two stakes by which to keep 

 in line. Stakes are set for the other rows in the same manner. 

 The furrows, which are to be made in one direction only, may be 



