In addition to these particulars, the same considerations that I have already[1] mentioned in reference to warm or cold, moist or dry soils, have also taught us the necessity of trenching around the roots. These trenches, however, in a moist, watery soil, should be neither wide nor deep; while the contrary is the case where the ground is hot and dry; it being the object, in the latter instance, to let them receive and retain as much water as possible. This rule is applicable to the culture of old trees as well; for in very hot places the roots are well moulded in summer, and carefully covered up, to prevent the heat of the sun from parching them. In other places, again, the ground is cleared away from the roots, in order to give free access to the air, while in winter they are carefully moulded to protect them from the frost. The contrary is the case, however, in hot climates, for there they bare the roots in winter for the purpose of ensuring a supply of moisture to the parched fibres.

In all places the rule is to make a circular trench three feet in width at the foot of the tree; this, however, it is not possible to do in meadows, where the roots, in their fondness for the sun and showers, range near the surface far and wide. Such, then, are the general observations that we have to make in reference to the planting and grafting of trees that we value for their fruits.