CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



86 



If young avocado trees are planted in sandy or loamy soil with no 

 hard-pan for subsoil, a hole about three feet in diameter, or square, if you 

 prefer, and three feet deep should be ample to give it a good start. If con- 

 venient and means are at hand the planting of avocado trees in poor soil 

 should be as follows: Dig a hole three feet deep, place in the bottom 

 twelve to eighteen inches of manure, if possible well decayed, tramp down 

 firmly, place from six to eight inches of surface soil on top of the manure 

 and firm down, then place the tree and fill in with surface soil. Use the 

 soil which comes from the bottom of the hole to make the basin around the 

 tree for irrigating. If old compost is to be had a good plan is to use it 

 half and half with the soil for back-filling the hole, but it is not advisable 

 to use fresh, strong manure, or commercial fertilizer too close to the roots. 

 If the soil is light and has good drainage there will be no danger of over 

 watering, but if heavy clay or adobe soil is present the hole should be dug 

 even larger than above mentioned and old compost should be mixed thor- 

 oughly with the soil in back-filling, which will act as a good pulverizer. Any 

 layers of hard-pan should be well broken up and this can sometimes be 

 easily done by the use of powder. The irrigation of trees planted in heavy 

 soil is more of a trick than that of those planted in light soil, in other words 

 it is possible to completely drown the trees. Some clay and adobe soils are 

 very slow in allowing the water to penetrate, and under such conditions, if 

 irrigated too often without examining the soil, as to its need, you will form 

 a death trap for the newly planted tree, because the loose soil which has 

 been used in back-filling will take up a great amount of water and with 

 insufficient drainage for the surplus the soil is apt to get sour. Such soil not 

 only prevents the growth of the young roots, but injures the old ones as well 

 and soon the tree takes on a yellow look and very often dies. 



To sum it up all that is really necessary in planting the young avocado 

 tree is to take into consideration the local conditions and then use common 

 sense in the application of water. If the young trees have been shipped any 

 distance and have become dry in transit or from any other 'ilse, they 

 should be thoroughly watered before planting. 



In making basins for summer irrigation it is a great mistake to make 

 the funnel or crater-like affair with its lowest point directly around the trunk 

 of the tree; it is much better to make a circular ditch around the tree, leav- 

 ing at least six inches of high ground around the trunk of the tree and as 

 the tree grows the basin should be made proportionately larger. All basins 

 should have some sort of a mulch covering to keep the moisture from evapor- 

 ating and at the same time to protect the ground from baking. 



All young trees should have a stake, for the first year at least, placed 

 on the south to southwest side to act as part shade for the trunk. If the 

 trees are planted during the dry summer months it is advisable to fill the 

 holes with water before planting, which not only gives reserve moisture in 

 the bottom but helps in determining the condition of the subsoil as to drain- 

 age by the length of time it takes to disappear. 



