It may be considered as a safe general rule, to plant shallow, more especially for dwarf standards and half stan dards, the soil for which is not particularly prepared. Whether the general soil be cold and moist, or thin and gravelly, it is found better to place the roots of the young trees almost on the surface, and rather to heap earth over them in the form of a hillock than to sink them into the soil. Suppose the subsoil be a mouldering rock, and a hole be ding in it, it is evident that the tree will be placed in a sort of well, which will at once retain water, and hinder the spread of the roots. If the tree be placed on the sur face, it will insinuate its roots into and draw nourishment from many invisible crevices. Since shallow planting has been recommended, it follows as a necessary consequence, that stakes are indispensable for dwarf standard and half standard trees.
From about the end of October, or after the shedding of the leaf, till the end of November, is considered as the best time for the planting of fruit-U ees in this country, particularly in light soils. The weather is then mild, and the earth has time to settle about the roots during winter, before the first approaches of genial spring-. But trees may be transplanted, in open weather, any time from the end of October till the beginning of March ; and for heavy or wet land, planting in this latter month is accounted preferable. Young Ivan trees are planted about six or eight inches from the wall, and the part that has been cut at the time of grafting is placed next to the wall. The tree is planted at the same depth at which it formerly stood ; but the roots arc not the better for being deeply covered ; if they be saved from the frost, they can scarcely be too near the surface. At the time of planting, the mould should be moderately dry, so as readily to crumble down, If, however, very dry weather occur, the ground is mulched at some distance around the roots. so as to prevent the bad effects of drought. Mulching, it may here be explain ed, consists in rendering a portion of the ground thoroughly moist by adding water, and working it like mortar. To increase the retentiveness of moisture, some short stable dung, or other litter, is added: When the roots are co vered, the tree is gently raised and shaken, so as to cause the earth to apply closely to the roots. The soil is at the same time. slightly pressed down. Wall-trees are not nailed up till the following spring. In this way they set
tle or subside along with the loose earth of the border. Were they nailed to the wall, they would run the risk of being suspended.
Garden Training.
79. Towards the end of March, young trees that have been planted out since October of the former year are headed down, or have their shoots shortened hack to three, five, or six buds, according to their strength, and the pur pose for which they are intended. When the trees have stood two, three, or more years in the nursery, alter graft ing or budding, the heading down is of course confined to the last year's shoots, and its extent, as well as the thin ning out of superfluous shoots, must be left to the judg ment of the experienced gardener, it being impossible to lay down rules where the circumstances must be perpetu ally varying.
8u. The two principal methods of training wall-trees which are followed in this country, are called the An and the horizontal modes. In the former, the branches are ar ranged like the spokes of a fan, or like the hand opened and the fingers spread. In the other way, a principal stem is carried upright, and branches are led from it hori zontally on either side. The Dutch style consists in tak ing a young tree with two branches, and leading these horizontally to the right and left, to the extent perhaps of twelve feet each way, and in then training the shoots from these perfectly upright to the top of the wall. This is now seldom practised here, excepting perhaps with fig trees, or white currants. In some places a few of the vv all-trees are trained in a stellate form, the stem being led upright for about six feet, and then some branches trained downwards, others laterally, and others upwards. When walls exceed seven feet in height, the best gardeners seem to concur in giving the preference to the fan training, vari ously modified : in this way they find that a tree can much sooner be brought to fill its allotted space, and the loss of a branch can much more easily be supplied at any time. For lower walls, the horizontal method is preferred; and the same plan is adopted almost universally on espalier rails. Mr Hitt strongly recommends this mode for most sorts of ; and for pears he adopts what is called the screw stem, or training the stem in a serpentine man ner, the branches going off horizontally, as in the ordinary straight stem.