144 



FRUITS. 



[chap. 



draw drills across it at eight inches' distance, make them from 

 two to three inches deep, put in the seeds pretty thickly, cover 

 them completely, tread the earth down upon them ; and then 

 smooth the surface. When the plants come up, thin them to 

 about three inches apart ; and keep the ground between them 

 perfectly clean during the summer. Hoe frequently ; but not deep 

 near the plants ; for we are speaking of trees here ; and trees do 

 not renew their roots so quickly as a cabbage or a turnip does. These 

 young trees should be kept during the first summer as moist as 

 possible, without watering ; and the way to keep them as moist 

 as possible is to keep the ground perfectly clean and to hoe it 

 frequently. I cannot help observing here, upon an observation of 

 Mr. Marshall : " As to weeding says he, though seedling 

 trees must not be smothered, yet some small weeds may be suf- 

 fered to grow in the summer, as they help to shade the plants and 

 " to keep the ground cool.'' Mercy on this gentleman's readers ! 

 Mr. Marshall had not read Tull ; if he had, he never would 

 have written this very erroneous sentence. It is the root of the 

 weed that does the mischief. Let there be a rod of ground well set 

 with even " small weeds," and another rod kept weeded. Let them 

 adjoin each other. Go, after fifteen or twenty days of dry wea- 

 ther ; examine the two ; and you will find the weedless grou id 

 moist and fresh, while the other is dry as dust to a foot deep. 

 The root of the weed sucks up every particle of moisture. What 

 pretty things they are then to keep seedlings trees cool ! — To pro- 

 ceed : these seedlings, if well managed, will be eight inches high, and 

 some higher, at the end of the first summer. The next spring they 

 should be taken up ; or this may be done in the fall. They should 

 be planted in rows, four feet apart, to give room to turn about 

 amongst them : and at two feet apart in the rows, if intended to 

 be grafted or budded without being again removed. If intended 

 to be again removed, before grafting or budding, they may be put 

 at a foot apart. They should be kept clean by hoeing between them, 

 and the ground between them should be digged in the fall, but not 

 at any other season of the year. The plants will grow fast or slowly 

 according to the management ; and the proper age for budding 

 or grafting is from three to live years ; but it is better to have a 

 strong stock than a too weak or too young one. The younger they 

 are the sooner they will bear, but the sooner they a-so decline and 

 perish. To speak of the kind of stocks most suitable to the differ- 



