216 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



trees, as well as to the nurserymen themselves, in preventing insects from establishy 

 ing themselves in the nursery and being scattered over the country when the trees 

 are sold. Especially when peach trees are purchased, it is desirable to soak them 

 thorougihly, for a sliort time, in a strong decoction of tobacco water, and all trees 

 should be carefully examined for the presence of insects or diseases of any kind, 

 and df they are detected, proper remedies should be used for their destruction. 



CARE OF TREES WHEN RECEIVED FROM THE NURSERY. 



Whether purchased direct from the growers, or ordered through agents, care 

 should be taken that the roots of the trees are not exposed to the action of the sun 

 and dry winds. The practice of many farmers of placing their bundles in their 

 wagons and driving home without taking any pains to cover them to prevent the 

 drying of the roots has undoubtedly caused the loss of thousands of nursery trees. 

 Wet straw and blankets should always be provided when notice has been received 

 thajt the agent from whom the trees have been ordered is to make a delivery, and, 

 as soon as possible, the trees should be either planted or heeled-in. When re- 

 ceived in the fall, unless one has a cellar, where the temperature can be kept just 

 above the freezing point, in which they may be placed with their roots in the soil,; 

 it will be desirable to heel-in the trees in some well-drained spot, where thei-e will 

 be no danger from standing water. A trench should be dug a foot or so in depth 

 and about three feet wide,"in which the trees should be placed with the tops in- 

 clined toward the south at an angle of about twenty-five or thirty degrees from the 

 horizontal. The bundles should be opened and the soil thorougihly worked among 

 the roots and pressed about them. It is always advisable to have the trunk and 

 the greater part of the branches covered, especially lin the case of peach and other 

 tender fruits and whenever trees have not been thoroughly ripened. Care should 

 be taken to have no straw or rubbish about the trees, but it is a good plan to use 

 evergreen boughs to break the sun's rays and prevent the alternate freezing and 

 thawing, as well as the rapid thawing of the ti-ees after a severe cold spell. A 

 trench should always be dug to carry off any surface water from about the trees. 



DISTANCE OF PLANTING. 



In setting the trees, the following distances will be found desirable under ordi- 

 nary conditions: Apples, thirty-five to forty feet; pears, standard, twenty-five 

 feet; pears, dwarf, fifteen feet; plums, eighteen to twenty feet; peaches, twenty 

 feet: cherries, sweet. tAventy-five feet; cherries, sour, twenty feet; grapes, ten by ten 

 to ten by twelve feet for strong growing sorts, and eight by eight to ten by ten feet 

 for the weak growing varieties; blackberries, eight by three feet to eight by five 

 feet for large sorts, and seven by three feet for the small sorts; raspberries, seven 

 by three feet to eight by four feet for the tall-growing varieties, and six by three 

 to seven by three feet for the smaller sorts; currants and gooseberries, six by six 

 feet if in squares, or seven to eight feet by five feet in the rows, and the English 

 varieties of gooseberries as close as five by five feet; strawberries, three and one- 

 half to four, by one and one-half to two feet, for matted row planting, and for hill 

 culture tvrenty inches to two feet, or two and one-half feeit if arranged in 

 squares, or three to three and one-half feet between the rows, with the plants 

 twelve to eighteen inches apart. While the longer distances may seem a waste of 

 room, the trees and plants, when full grown, will occupy the entire space. If given 

 good care, on strong soil, and not only will it greatly assist in cultivating, as it 

 will make the use of the larger tools possible, but especially in dry seasons the 

 fruit will be much larger and better colored. Where fungous diseases are trouble- 

 some, the planting of the trees at a good distance apart will permit the entrance of 

 the sun's rays and the circulation of the air between the trees and lessen the in- 

 jury from disease. While it may be admissible under some conditions, we advise 

 against the planting of fruits of various kinds upon the same ground. Some per- 

 sons seem to think that the planting of peaches between apples, and then setting 

 raspberries or blackberries between the peaches, and strawben-ies between the 

 rows of raspbeiTies will effect a saving of space, but although it may be followed 

 to some extent in the fruit garden, the practice is not ordinarily advisable in com- 

 mercial plantations, as, even while the trees are small, they do not require the 

 same care and none of them will do as well as if planted by themselves. Within 

 a short time the roots of the trees will occupy the ground and nothing should be 

 allowed to interfere with their growth. Even though the intermediate trees and 



