220 THE POME FRUITS 



roots, and if it is in the proper condition for planting it 

 cannot be firmed too much. 



The time of planting the trees varies with the locality. 

 In the north, spring planting should always be done, because 

 if the trees are set in the fall they are especially liable to 

 winter injury, and in some cases are killed. In the north 

 it usually becomes necessary to dig the trees from the 

 nursery row, and either heel them in by digging a hole in a 

 well-drained place and covering up the trees, both root and 

 branch with soil, or by packing them in a cool, moist cellar. 

 The covering up of the trees with soil is called heeling in. 

 Only specially constructed cellars are adapted to the storing 

 of the trees over winter, and heeling them in out of doors 

 will usually give better results. 



In other more favorable localities, as, for example, in the 

 central and the southern sections, where there is very little 

 danger that the trees will be injured in the nursery row, they 

 are taken directly from the nursery and set out in their per- 

 manent location in the spring. Where the trees are heeled 

 in l^or the winter they should be set out just as soon in the 

 spring as the ground can be prepared and the danger of 

 severe freezing is past. 



Spring planting seems to be preferable in most of the 

 fruit-growing sections, principally because the tree soon 

 starts into growth after it is planted. This early growth of 

 the tree after it is set in the orchard is a decided advantage 

 to it. The timely establishment of a tree in the soil prevents 

 it from being exposed to the unfavorable elements of the 

 weather and the chances are greater for its success. 



The fall planting of trees is practised in some fruit-grow- 

 ing regions. This method can be followed in those sections 

 in which the winters do not get too severe and where there is 

 plenty of moisture in the soil at planting time. In regions 

 where the weather is severe the trees are sometimes laid 

 on the ground and covered with some kind of a mulch. 

 This procedure is expensive, it makes considerable addi- 

 tional labor, and it is not generally recommended. Fall 

 planting has one advantage where it can be practised, in 

 that the work can be done at a time of the vear when 



