14 FIELD NOTES- ON APPLE CULTURE, 
had reached Western Michigan, a box of apple trees was 
received from an Eastern nursery in very poor condition 
—so poor, in fact, that the roots were withered and the 
trees given up for lost. By way of experiment, however, 
they were thrown into a ‘‘cat-hole” and allowed to re- 
main for several days. Signs of life began to return and 
the trees were set among the logs in a clearing. Nearly 
all of them lived and flourished. 
The soil in which the tree is set should be well pulver- 
ized. It is desirable to dig a hole three feet in diamater, 
unless the soil is in excellent condition, and then pulver- 
ize the bottom with the spade. Never make the mistake 
of making the hole smaller than the expanse of the roots. 
Let all the roots take their natural direction ; never 
crowd them. Set the tree about as deep as it stood in 
the nursery. It is not at all important that it should 
face the same point of the compass that it did in the 
nursery row. Work the earth about the roots with the 
fingers, and be sure that you leave no air space under- 
neath the roots. There is no- implement which can do 
the work of the fingers in setting trees. When the roots 
are covered, grasp the body of the tree and move it very 
slightly up and down two or three times to further pack 
the earth about the roots. Never use stones, clods or 
sods to fill in with. When the hole is filled, stamp the 
earth firmly about the tree. 
DISTANCE APART. 
Apple trees demand an abundance of room. For the 
larger sorts, as Tompkins King, Baldwin, Spy, and 
‘Greening, forty feet. apart each way is none too much, 
