40 TREATISE ON 



if there's a quarry beneath an ordinary depth of topsoil with crevices that allow water to 

 run out. Holes or trenches at least six feet wide by three feet deep would have to be dug 

 there & filled in with good soil. It's not even certain that the trees whose entire livelihood 

 will be limited & confined within this space, unable to live frugally, won't be wanting and 

 destitute before their old age. 



On the day, or several days, just before planting, small holes about eighteen 

 inches wide and a foot deep are made in espalier beds & in turned up ground. The holes 

 and trenches are filled to within half a foot of the surface of the ground. The tree roots 

 thus will be half a foot below the surface of the ground, & when all the soil that 

 previously had been removed is replaced in the holes and trenches, the tree will be 

 earthed up about half a foot. But after tamping down, the soil will settle half a foot, 

 lowering the roots by the same amount. The final result is that the tree will be planted 

 about a foot deep. 



In turned up ground, trees first are planted a foot deep, because no matter how 

 much the earth settles as it firms up, the tree roots always will remain just about the same 

 distance from the surface of the ground, i.e. about a foot below it, which is a suitable 

 depth for most trees. In this connection a couple of things deserve mention: 1°. the 

 insertion point of a graft should be entirely above ground, otherwise roots would soon 

 emerge from the thickening at the graft union, & the tree, growing independently of its 

 base, will become branchy & will bear fruit with difficulty. This mishap occurs especially 

 with trees grafted on quince, Doucin, & Paradise. Entirely the opposite happens to pear & 

 apple trees grafted on stocks of their own kind & planted in loose soil. It's because 



