FRUIT TREES. Chap. I. 7 



they're pulled up, the taproot is cut off or shortened, and they're re-planted the same 

 distances apart as are the almond trees. It's better to do this transplant in autumn than in 

 spring. They're grafted when they've acquired the strength & height suitable for grafts of 

 dwarf, half-standard, or standard trees. Sometimes the pits, or at least some of them, only 

 come up in the second year, especially if they were not put into the sand soon enough or 

 kept sufficiently moist to promote their germination. Young wild cherry trees that grow 

 in the woods make extremely good stocks when transplanted to nurseries. 



IV. The seeds of pears, apples, and quinces likewise are layered in sand. But since 

 they germinate more easily than do pits, the sand should be kept not as moist & the seeds 

 should be located where it isn't so warm, so that their germination won't be too far along 

 in March when they're put in the ground. They're sown like cherry pits, but not quite as 

 deep. (It's more usual to take marc of pears & apples from cider presses, dry it out, sieve 

 it, spread it evenly on the prepared ground, & cover it with about half an inch of light 

 mellow soil.) In the third year the seedling is pulled up to cut off its taproot and replant it 

 in a nursery. 



One can spare oneself the effort of this initial cultivation by transplanting & 

 cultivating pear or apple tree seedlings pulled up from the woods, where many of them 

 sprout from seeds. 



As to the osseous pits of the azarole & hawthorn trees, they are placed in a hole 

 dug in a garden or other ground deep enough to cover them with eighteen inches or two 

 feet of earth. They are left there until the second subsequent March, i.e. for about fifteen 

 months. 



