PLANTING AND CARE Of TREES 
If possible, plant the trees at once upon arrival; otherwise, heel them in 
(temporarily plant them) so the roots will not dry out. 
IN PLANTING, the holes should be dug* wide enough to accommodate the 
roots and a few inches deeper than the length of the roots. No manure or other 
coarse material should be used in the holes about the roots. A few handfuls of 
bone meal or tankage mixed with the soil about the roots will give good results. 
Only good top soil should be used in filling the holes and this must be firmed well 
about the roots while the tree is being planted by tamping with a tamping stick 
which has a smooth round end that will allow the earth to be firmly packed and 
at the same time not bruise the roots. Most failures in transplanting are due to 
the planter not tamping the earth well about the r< ots of the tree or from using 
water in the holes as the trees are being planted. If water is used and the soil 
handled while wet, it will harden and shrink away from the roots in drying. For 
the same reason trees should never be planted soon after a heavy rain or at any 
time when the ground is very wet, unless the soil is of a sandy type which does 
not become as paste if worked in while wet. 
If the ground is dry, so much the better for planting. The trees may be 
watered after they are planted. Remove a shovel of earth on two sides of the 
tree and a foot or more away; fill this depression with water and after this has 
soaked in. put the dirt back, leaving a loose mulch of soil on top. If the clay is 
thrown out from the holes and only top soil used in filling the holes—taking this 
top soil from a circle surrounding the tree when the tree is planted it will be sur¬ 
rounded by a depression or basin a few inches below the surface level. This is 
a decided advantage. 
Trees planted in this way not only live better but grow much faster as the 
basin about the tree gathers both moisture and fertility during rains and is 
eventually filled up with the most fertile soil. This method of planting is es¬ 
pecially desirable where trees are to be grown without cultivation. It is possible 
by this method of planting, supplemented with an annual mulch, to grow vigorous 
trees and profitable orchards easily and cheaply on rough, cheap land, that would 
be quickly ruined by erosion if cultivated. By sowing sweet clover or other strong 
growing legumes and rotating with orchard grass crops plenty of mulching ma¬ 
terial can be grown right where it is needed and at the same time the land will 
be built up and improved. Keep the mulch about 4 inches away from the tree 
trunk. 
