Winter Meeting. 173 



mterest on this subject. Perhaps it is safe to say that the men who 

 have had the most experience in growing orchards, wonld favor a strong, 

 well-rooted, two-year-old tree, for the reason that they are more easily 

 j)lanted, more easily pruned into the desired shape, and seem to have 

 more vitality, consequently grow more readily, and more of them live. 

 Besides thy seem to come into bearing as soon as older trees planted at 

 the same time. In other words, the two-vear-old tree receives far 

 less shock when remo^'ed from the nursery row, because the roots have 

 not reached out so far, and are mostly removed with the tree, thereby 

 giving a larger per cent of root than older trees would have unless 

 special pain is taken in digging the older trees. Three, and even 

 four-year-old trees, with a fine root system, when moved only a short 

 distance, by wagon, give very good results. I would add, however, 

 that great care should be used about exposure of the roots. Every 

 root and fiber ought to be just as fresh and full of life when planted in 

 the orchard as it was in the nursery row. 



PRUNING. 



When we prune the young trees for planting in the 

 orchard, several important things must be taken into consideration. 

 The top must balance nicely with the root system. We must determine 

 the height of head best suited to the trees of diiferent forms of growth, 

 and the best form to give the top to make it strong and shapely. 

 Varieties differ widely in their growth, some make a strong upright 

 growth, others grow regular but more spreading, while still another 

 class takes a decided drooping form. It is evident that the same height 

 of head is not suited alike to the different forms of groA"i'th. A Clayton 

 apple tree certainly ought to be headed lower that a Ben Davis tree, and 

 a Ben Davis tree should have a lower head than some variety of a 

 more drooping nature. So in heading the youug ti'ee, the height of 

 head should be governed by its habit of growtli. In foruiing the top 

 we must take into consideration the requirements of a well formed 

 top. First, we want a tree with a strong center leader, and we Avill 

 try to give it an advantage of growth over the limbs so that it can con- 

 tinue its upward cdurso for other pur]ioses. Four or five limbs will 



