piece of
land containing a variety of soils can be selected, it will prove
beneficial, as different trees require different soils for their
greatest perfection. A situation through which a rivulet may run, or in
which a pond may be constructed, fed by a spring or hydrant, is of great
value for watering. The situation of the nursery, as it respects shade
or exposure, is also important. Trees should generally be as much
exposed to the elements, in the nursery, as they will be when
transplanted in the orchard. Trees removed from shaded situations to the
open field will be stinted in growth for some time, and may be
permanently injured. Never allow your nursery to be shaded by large
trees. Bearing trees, designed to show the quality of your fruit, should
occupy a place by themselves.

_Soil._--A theory that has had many adherents is that trees raised on
poorer and harder land than that they will occupy in the orchard, will
grow more vigorously, and do better, than those transplanted from better
to worse soil. Thus, trees have often been preferred from high, hard
hills, to transplant in good loam or alluvium. On the same principle, a
calf or colt should be more healthy, and make a better creature, for
having been nearly starved for the first year or two. Neither of these
is true. Give fruit-trees as great a growth as possible while young,
without producing too tender and spongy wood for cold winters. It is
only desirable to check the early growth of fruit-trees on the rich
prairies of the West, and that should be done, not by the poverty of the
soil, but by root-pruning or heading-in; this prevents a spongy, tender
growth, that is apt to be injured by their trying winds. Trees that are
brought from a colder to a warmer region, always do better.

_Preparation of the Soil._--It should be made quite rich with
stable-manure, lime, and wood-ashes, and cultivated in a root-crop the
previous year--any roots except potatoes. Those left in the ground will
come up so early and vigorous in the spring, that you can not eradicate
them without destroying many of your young seedlings. The land should be
worked very deep by subsoiling, or better with double-plowing, by which
the manure and top-soil are put in the bottom. As manure always works
up, the effect will be excellent. Buckwheat is good to precede a
nursery; it shades the ground so densely as to protect it from the
scorching sun, and effectually destroy all weeds. Trees planted on