EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 231 



TREES TO PLANT. 



It is by all means advisable to secure first-class trees. Such trees 

 should be medium in size for their age, free from injurious insects and 

 diseases, should have a healthy root system, with enough good-sized roots 

 to hold the tree firmly in the soil and a good lot of fine roots. Not all 

 varieties have straight trunks, and this should be taken into considera- 

 tion. Large sized trees should not be considered first-class and should 

 be avoided, as often much of their root sjstem is removed in digging, 

 and they adapt themselves to new conditions with greater difficulty. The 

 extra expense necessary to buy first-class nursery stock will be many 

 times repaid before the trees have outlived their usefulness. It is 

 usually preferable to secure trees from a nearby reliable nurseryman. 

 His soil and climatic conditions are more apt to be like those of the field 

 in which the trees are to be set. The trees are thus saved the unneces- 

 sary effort of adapting themselves to new and radically different con- 

 ditions. However, the importance of this point is doubtless overesti- 

 mated, as many distant nurserymen may have practically identical soils 

 and climates. Other advantages of patronizing nearby nurserymen are 

 the saving of expense in shipping and avoiding the danger of injury in 

 transit. Then, too, the purchaser can visit the nursery and select his 

 trees, and be more certain to secure Avhat he desires. There is doubtless 

 considerable advantage to the orchardist in furnishing the nurseryman 

 with scions or buds secured from trees of known productiveness, hardi- 

 ness and health. 



There is a growing tendency on the part of orchardists to demand 

 younger and smaller trees. In doing so, they can better shape the top 

 to their desire, retain a much larger part of the root system, and secure 

 a better and more certain growth. Young trees Avill usually grow faster 

 and more vigorously than older ones. The age at which trees should be 

 preferred from the nursery are: apples, quinces and pears, 2 to 3 years; 

 peaches and sweet cherries, 1 year; plums and sour cherries, 1 to '2 

 years. There is no material diff'erence between budded and root grafted 

 trees, provided they are of the same size and vigor, except, perhaps, in 

 the North Peninsula, where it would be advisable to get root-grafted 

 apple trees, and secure stock of known hardiness. 



The use of dwarf trees is usually confined to pears. While more dwarf 

 trees can be planted upon an acre, and larger fruits can be produced, 

 still they have not found favor among commercial orchardists except in 

 a few sections Avhere an extra high grade of fruit is desirable. Dwarf 

 trees are secured by propagating upon a slow growing root, but will not 

 remain dwarf unless severely headed-in every year. 



As soon as the trees are received from the nursery they should bo 

 carefully heeled-in the ground, as near the field intended for the orchard 

 as possible, and preferably at the north side of a building or wood lot, 

 especially in the spring, in order to protect them from the sun, keep 

 them cool and retard their development. The trench should be dug 



