Then he put it in the hole, carefully, and the men spread the roots out all around in the bottom of the hole, and they sifted some dark-colored dirt all about them, and they worked it in between the fine roots with their fingers, and they pressed it down hard.
The man who had put the tree in was holding on to it all the time, so that it should grow up straight.
And when the roots were all right and the dirt was pressed down hard, he let go of the tree and took up the end of a hose that was lying on the ground, right behind him.
David hadn't noticed the hose before. It came from a shiny hose-faucet, and the hose-faucet stuck out of the house just above the foundation, halfway along the side.
The man let water run from the hose into the dirt that had just been put around the roots of the tree, and he let it run for a long time.
And when the top of the hole was just a puddle of mud, he stopped the water and dropped the hose, and the men scattered a little dark-colored dirt that was dry over the top of it.
That dark-colored dirt is called loam, and it is the best kind of dirt to make things grow.
David saw that from the house down to where the path would be to the back door was already covered with the same dark-colored dirt.
The other side of the path was nice and smooth, but it looked sort of raw and the dirt was a yellow color.
Just beside the road was a great pile of dark-colored dirt, and there was a two-wheeled cart backed up to the pile, and a man was shoveling the dirt into the cart.