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Planting Fruit Trees and Bushes. 



[NOV., 



favourable when the trees arrive, they can be " laid in by the 

 heels" until it is so. Then the first operation is the trimming 

 of the roots, all parts bruised in the process of raising the trees 

 in the nursery being cut off with a sharp knife. The cut should 

 be made upwards from the base of the roots, so that the cut sur- 

 face will rest on the soil. 



In planting, one man should hold and place a tree, spreading 

 out all the roots so that their ends slope slightly downwards,, 

 while another spreads finely-divided soil over them. The earth 

 in the hole should be a little higher in the [middle than towards 

 the sides, to allow of the roots being spread well without being 

 turned upwards. After some of the soil has been thrown in, 

 a forkful of manure may be placed upon it, and the hole may 

 then be filled up, being slightly rammed with a thick stake in 

 the process, and trodden firmly at the finish. The trees should 

 be so planted that they will be of the same depth in the soil 

 after it has sunk as they were when growing in their nursery. 

 On heavy land it is important to guard against too deep plant- 

 ing. Planting almost on the surface of heavy land, with small 

 mounds of earth over the roots, is sometimes recommended ;. 

 but this is questionable practice, as the earth is almost certain 

 to be drawn away from the trees in hoeing, if not also to be 

 washed away by heavy rain, leaving the roots insufficiently 

 covered for a droughty season. 



Trees and bushes should be cut back after planting when the 

 weather is not frosty ; but this operation comes under the head 

 of " Training and Pruning," which will be treated separately. 



In exposed situations it is of great importance to provide 

 shelter against the prevailing winds, and where planting is to be 

 done by instalments, extending over some years, it is advisable 

 to put in shelter trees beforehand — the sooner the better. The 

 Canadian poplar is one of the quickest-growing of trees, and for 

 this reason it is extensively used for shelter. Its chief defect is 

 that it is deciduous. On the other hand, evergreens are of much 

 slower growth. The Austrian pine is frequently recommended, 

 and it is an excellent shelter tree ; but its growth is slow. A 

 much more speedy grower is Cupressus Macrocarpa, which is one 

 of the best shelter trees in other respects also for the southern 

 half of England. In the bleaker north it is liable to be killed 



