116 



PLANTING. 



accomplished, it is highly advantageous to dig the 

 pits in time for the excavated clay to have its cohe- 

 sion broken by frost : the planting should afterwards 

 be perfonned exactly at the time when this frosted 

 mould is sufficiently dry, and no more, to shake 

 conveniently in among the fibres of the roots, and 

 not to knead into mortar, by the necessary pressing 

 of the feet. After this pressure, a little of the ten- 

 derest of the soil should be spread loose over the 

 surface, to exclude drought. Should this dr^oiess of 

 subsoil not be eflPected, the pits must be dug in 

 spring, at the time the clay is most friable ; that is, 

 between the moist and dry ; and the plants put in 

 immediately, breaking the clay as fine as possible, 

 and closing it w^ell around the roots. It is better 

 to delay planting even till JMay, than to perform it 

 too wet. When planting is delayed late in spring, 

 the plants should be kept shoughed in the coldest 

 situation that can be found, at the top of a hill ex- 

 posed to the north, or in some cold, damp, back-l}dng 

 place. Care should also be taken not to expose them 

 much while planting, as they, especially if the buds 

 be bursting, very soon wither when root and stem 

 are both exposed to the sun and diy air. ^Yhen 

 late planted, they ought always to be dipped as far 

 up as the branches in a puddle of clay and water : 



