CARETAKING 



The Hole 

 as Large as 

 the Orchard 



plants need special care lest they suffer from the summer droughts 



which annually parch the land. 



If the land is properly prepared and the trees are 



Planting in good condition, planting is easily, quickly, and 



safely accomplished. There is no need of such putter- 

 ing over-niceties as laying out the roots to preserve the fibers, and 



inserting the plant in a gingerly fashion to make sure that it stands 



in its new abode as it stood in the old. On the other hand, to slap 



the plants in hit-or-miss, burying some roots and leaving others 



exposed, is courting failure. 



The holes should be large enough and deep enough 

 to hold the roots without undue crowding. It is 

 unimportant to make them larger, for, if the land 

 has been 



well prepared, the hole is 



really as large as the 



orchard. Deep holes are 



often a menace to plants, 



becoming a tub into 



which water pours and 



stands about the roots. 



The practice of dig- 

 ging holes in a leisure 



time, that all may be 



ready when the plants 



arrive, is a bad one. 



Dormant plants strike 



root best in freshly 



turned, moist, and newly 



dug earth, which can be 



then well firmed about 



the roots when the tree is 



planted. It is good prac- 

 tice, however, to throw 



the surface soil to one 



side, and the subsoil to 



another, so that the moist 



and most active top soil 



may be put nearest to 



the roots. Don't be afraid of making the hole too large 



21 



