Planting the Home Orchard 
In selecting the site for your Home Orchard, practically any place or 
soil will be satisfactory. You will probably want it near the house, and 
you will want good drainage, as trees do not like “wet feet”. If your soil 
is thin, just use some manure. 
After you have decided on the place for your Home Orchard, put the 
ground in good condition, just as though you were going to plant a garden 
or a farm crop. Plow it early in the season before planting if possible. 
There are several methods of laying out your land, and it is probable that 
one of the plans shown in this book will fill your needs. 
PLANTING 
Do not plant too deep. Set the 
tree in center of hole at a depth a- 
bout two inches lower than it stood 
in the nursery row, using the good 
top soil to sift in about the roots. Fill 
the hole three-fourths full of earth 
and tamp soil firmly with your feet 
to hold tree in upright position. 
Then pour in two gallons of water 
and allow the water to soak in be¬ 
fore filling balance of hole. If pos¬ 
sible use only the rich top soil to en¬ 
tirely fill the hole. See that tree is 
standing upright. Leave the surface 
of the soil loose. A small amount of 
well rotted manure if thoroughly 
mixed with the soil in the top third 
of the hole may be used in planting. 
Fresh manure should not be used in 
the hole but can be used as a mulch 
or surface dressing. Commercial 
fertilizers should be put on top of 
the soil only after tree is planted, 
and starts to grow, otherwise it may 
injure the tree roots. Make record 
of the tree location at once, then 
remove label wires to prevent cut¬ 
ting limbs. 
Proper Planting of Trees 
1. Dig wide deep holes in order 
to accommodate roots without crowd¬ 
ing, keeping top-soil separated from 
sub-soil. 
2. Place tree in hole, about 2 
inches deeper than it stood in nursery 
— spread out roots. Work in good 
rich top soil around roots and tamp 
in solid until hole is % full. Leave 
no air pockets around roots. Pour 
in 2 or 3 gallons of water and let 
soak in. 
3. Fill up hole with good loose 
soil, leaving surface soil loose. A 
mulch of manure, straw, leaves, etc. 
around the tree will conserve soil 
moisture. Prune tree or shrub 
promptly after planting. Frequent 
watering and cultivation is very im¬ 
portant especially during the first 
season and in dry weather* 
[ 12 ] 
