MR. G . I EE OK LIETLNG ERUIT-TREES. 



80 



I begin early in the season and continue till the spring, as I lift 

 many hundreds every season; but I begin with the ripest first, 

 generally cherries, always choosing the mildest, but especially 

 moderately dry weather (I find the trees suffer if lifted in very wet 

 weather), and in filling-in, I never tread down the soil, and rarely 

 have one blow over, not more than one in eighty or ninety. 



I begin on very young trees, say the second year after planting, 

 and I generally plant maiden or sometimes two-year old trees ; 

 and if we begin so early there are no large roots taking a perpen- 

 dicular direction. Great care is taken in pruning the roots while 

 the tree is on its side and laying them carefully in, keeping them 

 as directly out from the tree as possible, so as eventually to form 

 a circle, and the soil is carefully worked over and levelled with a 

 fork. The depth of the hole must be regulated as well as the 

 width by the size or height of the tree ; but none of the roots, 

 even of large trees, are above 15 or 16 inches deep, and of those 

 which have been commenced with young (although they may now 

 be large) not more than about 10 or 12 inches. They do not require 

 any support in any one season to prevent their getting blown 

 over — a circumstance which I consider of great importance. If 

 trees are begun with when young and lifted carefully, they soon 

 have an abundance of roots, and their lifting is very little check 

 to them, except in making wood, and even this can be regulated 

 at pleasure. 



In the following list of trees which I have lifted successfully, 

 it will be observed that, though the process was commenced when 

 they were very young, their growth was not much hindered. The 

 height is given from the surface of the soil. 



The spread is taken at about 3 or 4 feet from the ground. 



The age is reckoned from the time of working (the stocks, 

 which are what are termed free stocks, being generally three 

 years old at the time of working). 



I perhaps ought to say that I find quince and paradise-stocks 

 lift quite as well as crab or pear, but it is not so with Cerastes 

 onalicdeb. This I do not find lift at all well in any soil. After 

 the trees get large, every bruise or scratch in the roots becomes 

 attacked by a fungus, which always produces bad health and 

 frequently death. The following are — 



Pyramid Pears. 



"Doyenne d'ete," age ten years, height 19ft., spread 8ft., dia- 

 meter of stem near the ground 6 in. 



