February IS, 183'.. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
119 
1 
i'ffi 
SPRING PLANTING. 
—+—• 
J UST when the planting of fruit and other trees was being carried 
out in earnest in Xovember the frost came and sealed the ground 
completely. No doubt a good deal of planting was done in the 
little time in which it could be carried out, but the season was 
unusually short. The ground was so dry in many districts in the 
autumn that before the rain came trees could not be taken up with 
the abundance of good roots which both nurserymen and their 
clients like to see ; therefore the former waited, even if the latter 
became impatient, till the trees could be despatched in a creditable 
state, and planted under favourable conditions. That was 
undoubtedly the right course to adopt under the circumstances, 
though the result of it was probably the shortest autumn planting 
season ever known, for it amounted to a mere snatching of about 
three weeks between the drought and the frost. 
The extent and severity of the winter is fresh in the memories 
of most persons, but the character of the autumn drought is not so 
well appreciated. During the whole of the month of September 
and three weeks in October less than 1;^ inch of rain fell, as 
measured by Mr. Symons and recorded in his meteorological 
observations in the weekly issues of the Journal of Horticulture. 
This is very remarkable if not unprecedented, and may be taken 
as fairly representative of the autumn drought in the south of 
England. It had also the greater effect on the soil as following a 
dry August, the rainfall of which was only a little over 1.[ inch. 
Towards the end of October half an inch of rain fell, and a little 
more than three-quarters of an inch during the first week in 
November ; it was therefore not until November was well 
advanced that trees could be either taken up or planted satis¬ 
factorily, and before the end of the month the earth was hard as 
adamant, remaining in an unworkable condition for about nine 
weeks. Granting that the soil and weather were more favourable 
for autumn planting in the north than the south an enormous 
amount of work remains to be done, and not a few persons are 
‘hesitating whether to carry out their intentions of planting fruit 
trees this season or wait till next November. After either work¬ 
ing or closely observing the work of others in fruit tree planting 
and management over a period of forty years I am distinctly of 
.opinion that it will not be wise to wait. * 
Whether fruit trees or bushes are planted to a limited extent 
for home use or on an extensive scale for commercial purposes the 
desire is the same—namely, to see them in good bearing condition 
as soon as possible. How time is to be gained by losing a season’s 
growth, even if that is not luxuriant, I entirely fail to see, A 
■spring planted tree that makes only moderate growth in summer is 
at least well established by the autumn, and must take a distinct 
lead the following year over one that is planted nine or ten months 
later, and which has to recover from the check consequent on its 
removal. But it by no means follows that spring planted trees 
make only moderate growth the first season. If carefully packed 
and properly managed they may be as good in the autumn following 
as if they had been planted in winter, and the chances are they 
will be better. I have said “ winter,” because more than half the 
so called autumn planting is done in the winter. When a tree is 
taken up the moment its leaves can be shaken off and planted 
immediately while the ground is still warm, and also moist, it will, 
in good hands, grow almost as well the following summer as if it 
No. 65.J. —VoL. XXII., Third Series, 
had not been removed ; but this cannot be said of trees, no matter 
how good they may be, that are obtained from nurseries in the 
ordinary course of trade. If obtained early, packed well and 
planted well under favourable soil conditions, they will grow well. 
But from various causes they have to bo waited for. The weather 
may retard the lifting, or, as often happens, the orders may be sent 
in late, and at least some persons who are almost the last to give 
orders expect to be the first to be served. There are, perhaps, no 
more obliging persons in the world than British nurserymen, but 
there is a limit to their power, and they cannot execute late orders 
for fruit trees early in the planting season, and when the trees 
arrive at their destination the earth is no longer warm, and though 
it may be autumn in the almanacks it is winter to the trees. 
Many thousands of fruit trees were planted last November, and 
the work continued to the last moment that the ground could be 
moved. It was soon frozen right below their roots, remaining so 
for weeks ; and it is very certain that these trees could derive no 
advantage from the “ autumn ” planting. There could not be even 
a commencement of the healing process of the pruned roots during 
that time ; and where the work was interrupted, half of the trees 
more or less being left over, these trees, if the roots were well 
“ laid in,” will grow at least as well planted after the frost as those 
that were planted immediately before it, if the most favourable 
opportunity is waited for, with the ground in the best of order. 
The recent winter has been exceptional, the movement of the sap 
in trees transplanted or not has been held in abeyance, and because 
of this fruit trees are in much better condition for lifting and 
planting now than is usual at this season of the year ; and they 
will grow as well planted in March as in February, and possibly 
better, that depending on the soil and the weather. A most 
important practical point, however, to remember in connection 
with the subject is this—having the trees as soon as they can be 
procured, laying them in carefully, so that when favourable 
weather comes it can be promptly turned to account in planting. 
Any particular date from the present time till the end of March 
is of infinitely less importance than the friability of the soil for 
ensuring the best results. 
There is an old saw to the effect that if you plant trees in the 
autumn you have only to “order” them to grow, but if you plant 
them in spring you must “ ask ” them to grow. It is not without 
significance, and the lesson it conveys is sound when strictly 
followed. The term autumn means when the ground is still warm 
and moist—not any time before Christmas when it is cold and 
wet. The above oracular utterance has probably led to a great deal 
of rough and hurried planting in November regardless of the 
weather, and trees have failed to give satisfaction in consequence, 
while it has deterred many persons from having the work done in 
spring, no matter how favourable the weather, yet I have no 
hesitation in expressing my conviction that trees in the right con¬ 
dition and properly planted during the ensuing spring will grow 
better than those that were roughly stuck in towards the end of 
November. 
A few years ago a friend of mine obtained a number of very 
good trees from a very good nurseryman. They reached their 
destination at the end of November. The weather was just what 
it should not be for planting, frost, snow, and rain alternating, yet 
I caught him rushing them into the puddle as if working for a 
wager. lie was working against time, as he said they “ must be 
in before December.” I advised him to stop the work at once, 
and let the others remain in the bundles in the barn, taking care 
the packing round the roots was kept damp, and this covered with 
dry straw to prevent freezing till the ground was dry and open. 
It so happened that severe frost set in at once and continued for 
six weeks. During that time I had at least six letters of concern 
from him, and to each he received a postcard reply to “put on 
more straw.” It seems a farmer’s notion of using straw was 
different from mine, for at last ho replied, “ I can’t, unless I put 
No. 2211.— Yol. LXXXIV., Old Series, 
