252 



Bulletin 69. 



no furlher danger of breaking off the limbs by the handling of 

 the tree. One foot is planted firmly at the base of the tree, and 

 tlun with one hand the branch to be removed is bent upwards 

 and with the other the knife is applied to the under side and the cut 

 is made neatly and easily (Fig. 5). Never cut downwards on a 

 limb, for a ragged wound nearly always follows. 



Buying the frees. — I have alreadj' said that it is best, when it 

 can be done, to order trees late in summer or early in the fall, if 



one expects to plant an orchard. 

 Bu}' where the best trees can be 

 obtained, and where there is good 

 reason to expect reliable stock and 

 honest dealing. While one should 

 endeavor to secure low prices, it 

 should be remembered that nursery 

 stock should never be purchased 

 simply because it is cheap. Poor 

 stock is dear as a gift. Yet farmers 

 who annually plant a few trees and 

 who buy of agents, often pay ex- 

 orbitant prices. In a certain town 

 last spring, farmers were paying 28 

 cents apiece for peach trees in lots 

 of a dozen, while any reliable nur- 

 sery would have been glad to have 

 supplied the same varieties at S8.00 



per hundred, at the nurserv. 



5. Pruning a young tree. ^. i,- i, i. u v.' u 



•^ ^. ^ 6 Plums which should have sold 



for 15 cents to 20 cents apiece were selling to farmers for 50 and 

 60 cents apiece. The man who seriously expects to plant an 

 orchard for profit, will not be led into any wild scheme or new 

 varieties bj' agents. He will generally buy directly of the near- 

 est nurseryman who can supply the desired stock and varieties at 

 the prices which suit him. Some nurserymen employ regular 

 and reliable agents, and such agents carry a certificate from the 

 firm they represent. But while these salesmen may be peifectly 

 straightfor^\'ard and may be the best channels through whom 

 small orders can be secured by those who are uninformed in 



