14 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE. 



had reached Western Michigan, a box of apple trees was 

 received from an Eastern nursery in very poor condition 

 — so poor, in fact, that the roots were withered and the 

 trees given up for lost. By way of experiment, however, 

 they were thrown into a "cat-hole" and allowed to re- 

 main for several days. Signs of life began to return and 

 the trees were set among the logs in a clearing. Nearly 

 all of them lived and flourished. 



The soil in which the tree is set should bo well pulver- 

 ized. It is desirable to dig a hole three feet in diamater, 

 unless the soil is in excellent condition, and then pulver- 

 ize the bottom with the spade. Never make the mistake 

 of making the hole smaller than the expanse of the roots. 

 Let all the roots take their natural direction ; never 

 crowd them. Set the tree about as deep as it stood in 

 the nursery. It is not at all important that it should 

 face the same point of the compass that it did in the 

 nursery row. Work the earth about the roots with the 

 fingers, and be sure that you leave no air space under- 

 neath the roots. There is no implement which can do 

 the work of the fingers in setting trees. When the roots 

 are covered, grasp the body of the tree and move it very 

 slightly up and down two or three times to further pack 

 the earth about the roots. Never use stones, clods or 

 sods to fill in with. When the hole is filled, stamp tlie 

 earth firmly about the tree. 



DISTANCE APART. 



Apple trees demand an abundance of room. For the 

 larger sorts, as Tompkins King, Baldwin, Spy, and 

 Greening, forty feet apart each way is none too much.' 



