PROPAGATION OF THE APPLE. 121 



should be at least three inches below the surface. Espe- 

 cial care is needed to fill up closely the hole made by the 

 tool, and that no cavity is left about the lower part of the 

 root, which is sometimes done by the inexperienced 

 workman. 



The chief care afterwards is to keep the ground 

 constantly cultivated, and perfectly clean, which will 

 increase the growth during summer, and exclude 

 mice in winter ; the trees are to be trained up to 

 one leading stem, not trimming so closely as to make 

 them slender ; they are to be kept straight, by ty- 

 ing them when necessary to upright stakes ; and all 

 Fi.^ 101. destructive insects must be watched and destroyed. 

 If the ground is rich and kept perfectly clean, they will 

 grow from one and a half to two feet the first summer after 

 grafting ; to three or four feet, the second summer ; five to 

 six or seven feet the third summer, when many of them 

 will be large enough for removal to the orchard, and most 

 of the remainder in one year more. If suffered to remain 

 longer in the nursery, they should be taken up and set out 

 again, for the purpose of shortening the long roots, without 

 which subsequent transplanting would be attended with 

 too great a check in the growth, if not actual danger to the 

 tree. 



Eoot grafting is extensively performed in large nurseries, 

 but on unsuitable soils, budding is found the most certain of 

 success, the buds being rarely destroyed, and only by the 

 most unfavorable winters. The bud remaining dormant the 

 first summer, the growth is one year later than on grafted 

 stocks of the same age ; but this difference is made up by 

 the more rapid growth of the shoot from the bud, which 

 is usually twice as great as that of a graft on the root. To 

 obtain handsome and good trees, the bud should be set within 

 two or three inches of the ground. 



An industrious man will set and wax in a day 500 root 

 grafts, or the same number of buds, tying them in for him- 

 self. If a careful boy ties the buds after him, 1000 per day 

 will not be a severe task. 



PLANTING ORCHARDS. 



Soil. The apple is a vigorous and hardy tree, and will 

 grow upon most soils. It does best however, on those tha 



