310 CULTIVATION OF FRUIT TREES AND FRUITS. 



aliment well mixed with the dirt which is to be replaced. Spread out the roots in the natural 

 manner, and carefully fill up the interstices and pack down the filling closely. In the hole it 

 is better to drive a stake, to which the tree may be fixed. A great many trees are lost by the 

 wind, which loosens the roots and prevents their fixation in the soil. 



4. If the trees have been above the surface sufficiently long to dry the bark, bury them, root 

 and branch, in a moist soil, until the bark is softened. 



5. Trim the top, to meet the necessities of the root; and to aid the root in its functions, 

 keep the trunk and limbs moist, rather than drench the root with water. 



6. Trees which are expected to thrive, must be supplied with nutriment : they are often 

 badly furnished. Spading the ground and spreading manure freely once in two years, will be 

 repaid in a greater and better return of fruit. 



7. Large trees may be transplanted by cutting a trench at a distance from the trunk, through 

 the roots, the season before it is removed. The earth around the undisturbed part will be 

 filled with rootlets sufficient to sustain any tree which can be handled by a company of men. 



8. The bark should not be broken ; limbs and roots which are injured should be amputated. 



9. Trees are supposed to be destitute of the power of locomotion. This is true only of the 

 trunk, and instead of a movement in body, the mouths, which suck up nourishment, travel. 

 Instead, then, of applying food around the base of the trunk, it should be applied at a distance. 



10. When a shrub or tree is too much inclined to produce leaves and branches, and refuses 

 to bear fruit, cut with a spade the most distant roots ; or as the operation may be termed, fore- 

 shorten the roots. 



11. Most fruit trees should have their branches and tops foreshortened. The axe and saw 

 are used too freely upon a large proportion of our apple trees ; especially in cutting the large 

 lower limbs. The tree is injured thereby, and besides it shoots up beyond the reach of the 

 ordinary means employed in gathering its fruit. The soil best suited to the production of good 

 fruit is a good soil, and most of the kinds require a strong soil. Of the cultivated fruits, a dry 

 soil, too, is generally indispensable : the apple, pear, peach and plum require a dry soil, with- 

 out exception. The quince grows the best in a rich, moist soil, where the suds from the kitchen 

 may water their roots. 



The reader will find ample details in relation to the composition of the inorganic part of fruit 

 and forest trees, in the second volume, and also the mode and manner in which it is distributed 

 through the vegetable system. The fruits were omitted in these general researches respecting 

 the composition of the ash. I commenced the work of analysis of apples and pears in 1S47, 

 but did not proceed far in the work, in consequence of ill health. I subjoin only a portion of 

 the results I obtained at this time. They are sufficient to show that in the removal of apples 

 and pears, considerable expensive matter is also taken away, and hence there will necessarily 

 follow the exhaustion of the soil, a fact which had escaped the attention of pomologists. 



