FRUIT TREES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 August 1938, Page 4

FRUIT TREES

METHOD OF PLANTING. • If the fruit trees arrive a day or two before you are ready to plant them, or when the soil is unfit for planting, unpack the trees at once. Sort them out and lay them with their roots in a trench in some corner. Cover with a good thickness of soil and spread some sacking on top of the soil. The tree tops need no covering, and they will be quite safe left in this manner for several weeks, but the first opportunity should be taken for the permanent planting. If, when unpacked, the roots seem very dry, stand the trees in a tub with the roots just covered with water. Leave to soak for three or four hours, then plant or “heel in” till required. When ready for planting, dig out a circular hole about three feet wide and 12 inches deep for each tree. For very large trees the holes will, of course, be correspondingly wider. Throw the top soil in a heap on one side of the hole and the lower spit on the other side. Next dig up the bottom of the hole with a fork, loosening to the depth of the prongs, at the same time working in some bonedust, or blood an<4 bone. Two or three handfuls to each hole will be sufficient. Lightly tread down the bottom of the hole, as the idea is merely to break up any “hard pan” there may be, which would naturally cramp the root development and interfere with natural drainage. Every broken or damaged root should be pruned off with a sharp knife. Coarse roots without fibres can be shortened to one half, and all dead pieces of root carefully trimmed off. Stand the trees in the holes so that they are upright and in correct alignment with their neighbours, and at just the right depth. With apple trees keep the old soil mark a trifle below the level of the soil, and remember that four inches of soil over the topmost tier of roots is generally ample. With raspberries and loganberries this is a little too much. From one and a-half to two inches is sufficient; too deep planting of these fruits is a grave but common error. Whatever you are planting, spread the roots out to their fullest extent, evenly, and in their natural tiers or layers. Work fine soil (from the heap of top soil) among the roots by hand, pressing it tightly among them so that they are embedded into position; then gradually fill in more soil. Tread the soil firmly to complete the operation, leaving the top few inches rather looser to permit rain to enter. This is easily done by pricking the soil over with a fork. One of' the gravest mistakes made in the planting of fruit trees is the practice of putting in manures of various kinds w*'.ere it comes into immediate contact with the roots. The death of the tree usually results. At the least, it will be sickly for some time. Manures should either be placed in the bottom of the hole and forked in as directed, or sprinkled on the top after planting is completed and forked in lightly. This will enable the young roots to take hold of the soil first; then they will appreciate the manure as growth progresses.