2G8 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FALL OR SPRING PLANTING. 



There is considerable discussion as to wtiictL is the best time for set- 

 ting trees. I have had good success with both fall and spring planting. 

 This year our fall planting was somewhat better than the spring plant. 

 Both were done under the same foremen and exactly the same soil condi- 

 tions. The trees planted in the fall have at least one month the start of 

 those planted in the spring. Part of this start is due to the warm soil in 

 the fall, and part to the soil becoming well settled around the roots before 

 spring. Where the winters are very severe planting must be put off until 

 spring. 



Good nursery stock is very essential to a good growth of tree. Don't 

 buy the largest tree you can find. You will not get a good stand with this 

 kind of a tree, for the simple reason that all the feeding roots are cut off 

 when the tree is dug. On the other hand, don't buy a small tree, just be- 

 cause it is cheap. The stocky, medium-sized one-year-old tree is the best. 

 You can bring this kind of a tree up in the way that it should go. If your 

 stock arrives before the soil is ready, dig a trench and heel the trees in. 

 Cut the bundles and spread out the roots so that the soil will sift down in 

 among them. Tramp the soil in well, so that the trees will not dry out. 

 If you cannot get your trees in until late, they should be heeled in where 

 the sun will not shine on them. After a tree starts into growth, then 

 planted it will not give as good a growth as a perfectly dormant tree. 

 Where the trees are to remain in the pit all winter at least half their 

 length should be covered. We put 150,000 trees into our pits last fall and 

 covered to within a foot of the top. The trees came out of the pits in 

 good condition. Of course, such deep covering will not be necessary in 

 very mild winter; that is, where the temperature does not go much below 

 20 degrees. 



When everything is ready- for planting, the trees are taken out of the 

 pit — that is, as many as needed for a day's or half day's planting, and 

 loaded into the plantingv wagon. Our wagons are of the low iron-wheeled 

 type, with a six-inch bed. A layer of straw is put in, then the trees. The 

 whole is covered with old sacks, then thoroughly watered. A wagon 

 cover is thrown over the bed and the wagon is ready for the field. We 

 f:nd that this keeps the trees in excellent condition. 



The wires are stretched and a hole dug, so that the button is over its 

 center. Be sure and get the hole large enough so that there will be no 

 danger of cramping the roots, and deep enough so that the tree can be 

 set at least three inches deeper than it stood in the nursery row. Take a 

 tree out of the wagon and prune off all broken roots, cut back all ragged 

 ends, and all long roots, to eight or ten inches. Place the tree in the 

 hole, so that the body is in line with the button, and fill in with the to.p 

 soil until the roots are covered, then get in the hole with both feet and 

 tramp the soil down firmly. Fill up to the top of the hole and tramp 

 again. Throw on a few shovels of loose soil to prevent the soil baking 

 around the tree. When planting with a wire, always keep behind the 

 wire. 



