71 
under section 234 of the Auctarium. One piece of advice is, 
however, necessary ; and that is, to reject all soil which has 
become exhausted by fruit or other trees. Where abundance 
of loamy soil is not to be had, the next best plan is to exchange 
such excavated soil for some of the ordinary vegetable garden 
soil. Another point of some importance may be here urged; 
which is, that the larger and older the trees are, which it is 
intended to remove, the richer the soil should be. In advo- 
cating the use of sound loam alone, in the preceding ]>arts of 
the Auctarium, as amply sufficient in itself for a dwarfing 
system, such advice was only intended to apply to young trees. 
The older and larger the tree, the greater reluctance it has to 
form new fibres, and must be “coaxed,” as gardeners say, by 
using some old vegetable matter, thoroughly blended with the 
loam, and by the addition of manures, in a mellow and decom- 
posed state. 
Trees, when planted, should receive, at least, six inches in 
depth of mulching over the surface of their roots; this is a 
proceeding of more importance than might at first sight be 
imagined. To say that it tends to enrich the soil, without 
altering, in any material degree, its texture, is not to recount 
one half of its merits. It acts in a more important manner, 
as a regulator; it will neither permit the soil beneath it to heat 
or to cool so readily, and, consequently, is important to newly- 
planted trees, both during the hottest seasons and the coldest. 
Our business is now with the coldest; and by mulching imme- 
diately, much of the remaining summer heat is arrested, and 
retained to facilitate rooting. Indeed, with six inches of 
mulch, it is probable that nearly .50° will be retained through 
the whole of the winter. This mulch should not be of a rotten 
character, but in a mellow and rather loose state; such will 
prove the best non-conductor, which is what we require, when 
the earth is losing instead of acquiring heat. Root-pruning 
should be immediately performed, where necessary ; directions 
will be found under the 280th section of the Auctarium. 
Winter pruning of trees may commence immediately, begin- 
ning with the ordinary bush fruit; but, as it will be more 
Judicious to prune some of our fruit trees in the spring, it will 
be convenient, for general purposes, to throw the whole into 
broad classes ; — they will then stand thus. — 
276 AUCTAKIUM. 
