Hints on the Planting of Orchards. 245 



quickly, it is the practice of some nurserymen to "strip" the 

 trees before the growth is completed ; that is, the leaves are 

 stripped off, the growth stopped, and the trees are put upon the 

 market for September deliveries. This process weakens the trees, 

 and I am satisfied that many failures which I have seen in young 

 plantations in the State, are attributable to this cause. Such 

 trees may die outright, especially if set in the fall and a hard win- 

 ter follows ; or they may live to make a dwindling growth for the 

 first few years. L,ike early-weaned calves, they lack vitality and 

 push. If I were setting an orchard in the fall, I should place my 

 order for trees in August or September, if possible, with the 

 express stipulation that the trees should stand in the nursery rows 

 until the leaves begin to die and fall. In the meantime, I should 

 endeavor to fit the land and dig the holes, so that when the trees 

 arrive they can go directly into their places without delay or with- 

 out the expense of heeling them in. Trees are mature enough to 

 dig late in September or early in October in this State, depending 

 upon the season, soil and variety. When the tree is fully mature, 

 some of the leaves will still hold upon the vigorous shoots, and 

 these are stripped off ; but this stripping does no harm, for the 

 young growth is then mature and it has a thick, strong, brown 

 appearance which is quite different from the slender, soft and green 

 branches of early- stripped trees. 



It should be said that there seems to be a tendency amongst 

 nurserymen to urge fall planting in order to push .sales ; and 

 there are many good planters who consider fall planting hazard- 

 ous. It is true that unless the conditions are right, spring plant- 

 ing is the safer cour.se ; and farmers who have many fall crops to 

 harvest, will also find more time for tree setting in the spring. 



Distance apart. — Trees are oftener set too close together than 

 too far apart ; in fact, the latter error scarcely exists. Trees are 

 wide feeders ; and the best results are obtained when each tree 

 stands far enough from its neighbors to allow it to posse.ss an in- 

 dividuality all its own. An additional reason for sparse planting 

 has lately become important, — the necessity of spraying for insect 

 and fungous pests ; and for this reason, as well as to allow of better 

 cultivation, the outside rows should not be set close to fences. 

 The distance at which trees may be set, depends much upon the 



