140 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



than so as to let the stake chafe through the bark, or the twine 

 to choke it and throttle it. (See page 164.) 



It is better to lay the tree in, just lightly covering the roots 

 up with soil, for a week or so, than to plant in wet sticky 

 weather or in sharp frost. 



In planting trees on the lawn or in meadow-land the turf 

 must not be relaid close up to the stems of the trees, but a little 

 round bed 3 feet across should be left over the roots. This 

 should be kept slightly stirred from time to time to a depth of 

 2 or 3 inches, and may be planted with any shallow-rooting 

 annuals or bedding- out plants that do not require deep holes to 

 be dug. These little round beds also make it very much easier 

 to water the trees the first summer if at all hot and dry, as the 

 turf edges prevent the water running away to a distance and 

 compel it to sink direct to the roots. After about four or five 

 years, when the trees have got well hold of the ground, these 

 round beds should be turfed over. 



It is very important the first summer to give the trees a good 

 soaking with water once every fortnight if the weather be hot 

 and the soil naturally dry. Too much water on a heavy soil 

 will be disadvantageous. It is a great assistance to young trees 

 to keep the surface-soil friable by frequent hoeing, so as to let in 

 sun and air ; it also has the advantage of preventing excessive 

 evaporation. 



It is also important the first spring after planting to look 

 over the young trees carefully as they are beginning to grow 

 into leaf, and pick off all caterpillars and grabs, by which they 

 are almost sure to be haunted. The leaves and the roots of a 

 tree are so mutually interdependent that many a good tree is 

 lost or crippled for life by allowing the grubs to eat up the 

 first year's spring foliage. 



In planting Strawberries it is very important that they be 

 planted neither too deep nor too shallow. If planted too deep 

 the crown eye in the centre of each will probably rot, whereas 

 if planted too shallow the roots which issue forth from the neck 

 as the plants grow will have no chance of forming. The collar 

 or neck, therefore, should be just, but only just, under the 

 ground. The plants should never be roughly dibbled in with a 

 dibber, as is so frequently done, but a little hole dug with a 

 trowel, and the roots carefully spread out all round, and the soil 



