Proper Condition of Sott. 107 
January. There will, however, be some variation from year to 
year, and different parts of the State disagree as to date. Hence, 
the general rule must be based on conditions, that of the tree 
and that of the soil. If the novice can not judge these for him- 
self, he must get the advice of some one of experience in the 
locality. 
The dormant period of a tree in California, as has been 
stated in another connection, is very short. As many cold- 
climate annual plants become perennial here, so our deciduous 
trees, in comparatively frostless portions of the State, evince a 
tendency to become evergreen. The period of dormancy in the 
root is also shorter than the inactivity of the top. Trees trans- 
planted early are found to have their root wounds calloused over 
and new rootlets considerably advanced before the buds swell. 
Therefore, by early planting the tree begins soon to take hold 
upon the soil, the latter being well settled around them by rains, 
which often follow early planting, and the high winds, which 
are apt to come in the spring’ in some parts of the State, find 
the tree well anchored and ready to maintain itself. 
Again, the proper condition of soil, if not seized at its first 
coming, may not recur until after the great storms of the winter 
are over, say in February or March (in most parts of the State), 
and then often the buds are bursting into bloom and leaf. Plant- 
ing when the soil is water-soaked and cold is very undesirable, 
for in such condition it can not be properly disposed about the 
roots, and trees moved at this period are apt to show their dis- 
like of the treatment. If the work has been delayed unavoid- 
ably, so that early planting can not be done, it is better to keep 
the trees heeled in until the proper soil condition returns, even 
if it be rather late, for a little extra attention to cultivation for 
retention of moisture will pull through a late-planted tree. 
These remarks are of very wide application in this State, 
but there are exceptions. In our high altitudes, where the cli- 
mate approaches Eastern conditions in cold and snowfall, prac- 
tise in planting will also approximate Eastern methods. In re- 
gions of very heavy rainfall and on the upper coast where the 
rainy season and moisture from fogs are prolonged late in the 
spring, late planting is safer and surer than in the warmer, drier 
parts of the State. 
Another consideration, too, is the slope of the land to be 
planted. Our hillside fruit growers in regions of heavy winter 
storms sometimes plant slopes, which, if plowed deep in the fall, 
are apt to wash badly during the heavy winter rains. On such 
slopes it is better to plow late in the winter, after the heavy 
storms are over, and plant when the soil has become warm and 
mellow. ; 
