Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1861-02-28
Planting Trees.

Persons intending to plant trees should be-
gin to think Of tho matter now, so as TO he
ready to enter upon the work as soon rs the
opening d The ground viii permit Il the
selection IF the land, the selection Of the
trees, tho varieties 10 be used and the dis
tance- apart at vhich they are to be set are
to be ieitunti May. when the lark Is whist
ling On the top OF the maple, the work will
probably be done in such hurried manner
as to cause many mistakes. All these PIE
iiminaries may be arranged by the sting
room or kitchen fire, ana may be aided by
suggestions OF the women or by those Of the
sons who are to assist u the labUr. This is
The engineering or planning part of farming,
and never should be left TO be decided upon
when tie time has come to do the work, any
more than the carpenter should decide what
kind OF a barn he is to build for YOU
when he has cot his force together to raise It
Having decided what distances shall be
preserved they may be set off, and then the
the holes should be dug as early as possible
1t would have been better had the earth been
thrown out last fall. The holes should be
large-ncver less than four feet III diameter
by eighteen to twenty four inches de- p, and
If Sit feet IN diameter, they are all the bet
ter. The earth thrown cut should be turned
over two or three time, so that it may all
receive portions OF the rain that falls, aud
the en,rgiling influences contained ii the at
mosphore. Under this process, that which
was taken from the bottom OF the hole will
be greatly improved 1t may answer to dig
the holes only foot deep, aud spade the bot
tom six or twelve inches but this process is
not so thorough as that of throwing the earth
entirely cut
Before setting the tree, the black top soil
should be thrown into the bottom Of the
hole with a sufficient quantity Of other
black soil near to ill the hole up within two
or three inches of the surrounding surface
If it can be afforded, little rotted compost
may be mingled in with decided advantage
In this manner . complete root bed is formed
for the NV conner one favorable to excite
numerous 6brous roots, because it is rich
light, and capable OF attracting both heat
and moisture. In such position, the tree
will soon Start into active and vigorous
growth, and will be likely to continue this
habit for several years. as the roots will not
be soon checked by coming in contact with a
hard aud 1old soil.
Great care must be observed not TO set tho
tree too low in the soil. A good rule is to
leave the crown of the root just on . level
with the surface. If there are plenty Of
roots, and one or two Of them come up quite
near the surface, while all the others are well
below, cut off the upper ones as they will be
likely to throw up suckers continually.
Trees should be elected tlat have been
formed in the nursery, as those that have not
been are materially checked in growth by
frequent alterations in their amount of top.
When trees in the nursery arc formed, those
may be selected that are much alike in size
and figure, aud the planter may have before
him an orchard not only OF good fruit pro-
duciug trees, but those doing him credit in
their similarity to each other aud in their
symmetry of form.
Fifty trees, such as we have described aud
set as suggested above, will be mere produc.
tive than one hundred Of an Indifferent de,
scription, and set in a careless manner.