I 



154 TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND 



Some only dig holes large enough to receive the roots, 

 especipJly in grass ground which is to be continued so. Others 

 prepare the ground by deep ploughing, if the orchard is to be 

 of great extent. The sward, if pasture, should be ploughed 

 in some time in the spring: Give it a good summer- fallow, 

 ploughing it two or three times, which will rot the turf. A fort- 

 night or three weeks before planting, give the ground a good 

 deep ploughing to prepare it for the reception of the trees. 

 The best time for planting on a dry soil is in October ; but, if 

 wet, the latter end of February, or the month of March, will 

 be a fitter season. 



In planting, endeavour to suit the trees as well as possible 

 to the soil, and to plant them at proper distances from each 

 other ; which may be from forty to eighty feet, according to 

 the size of the trees when full grown. Fruit-trees, as has al- 

 ready been observed, when planted too thick, are very liable to 

 blights, and to be covered with moss, which robs the tree of a 

 great part of its nourishment, besides spoiling the flavour of the 

 fruit. Procure your trees from a soil nearly similar to, or ra- 

 ther worse than that where you intend to plant them ; for trees 

 transplanted from a rich soil to a poorer never thrive well, but 

 if from a poor to a richer soil, they will generally succeed. 



If trees are planted in the quincunx order, and at the dis- 

 tance of eighty feet, the ground between the rows may be 

 ploughed and sown with wheat, turnips, &c. or planted with 

 potatoes. Ploughing or digging the ground, provided it be not 

 done so deep as to hurt the roots, by admitting the sun and rain 

 to meliorate the ground, will keep the trees in a healthy flourish- 

 ing state. It will be necessary to support the young trees by 

 tying them to stakes until they are well rooted, to prevent their 

 being loosened or blown down by the wind. The spring after 

 planting, if it prove dry, dig up some turf, and lay it round the 

 stem of the young trees with the grassy side downwards ; this 

 will keep the ground moist, and save a deal of watering: If 

 the trees have taken well, this need not be repeated, as they 

 will be out of danger the first year. The turf should be laid as 

 far as you think the roots of the trees extend ; and when it 

 is rotted, it should be dug in, which will be of great service to 

 them. 



Trees that are of very diflferent sizes when full groAvn 

 should not be planted promiscuouslv ; but, if the soil be pro- 

 perly adapted, plant the larger in the back part or higher ground, 

 or at the North ends of the rows, if they run nearly North and 

 South, and the others in succession according to their size. 

 Fruit-trees planted in this manner will have a fine effect when 



