TKNDENCIKS IN HORTICULTURIO. 173 



PLANTING THE ORCHARD. 



There are a few essential points to be considered in planting the 

 apple orchard, and it is important that each of these receive proper con- 

 sideration. The following questions naturally occur to the man who is 

 planning to plant an orchard this spring: 



Where shall I buy the trees? 



Shall I buy one-year-old or two-year-old trees? 



What points should I consider in selecting the orchard site? (The 

 land upon which the trees are to be planted.) 



(a) Should the land be level or rolling? 



(b) Hill side or bottom land? 



(c) Northern or southern aspect? 



(d) Should it be clay, sandy or loamy soil? 



(e) What crops should and should not precede the planting of an 

 orchard? 



' What method of preparing the land should I use before planting the 

 trees? 



How should the trees be handled when received from the railroad 

 station? 



What distance apart should the trees be planted? 



What points need I observe in the actual planting of the trees? 



Where to Buy Trees. — As a rule it is better to purchase trees of your 

 home nurseryman. Different nurserymen, however, have different 

 methods of handling their nursery stock, and different methods of 

 storing their trees over winter. If one is a critical student of the effect 

 of certain methods on the vitality of the trees, this might determine his 

 judgment as to the proper nursery from which to buy. It should be 

 remembered, however, that the nurseryman is in the business to stay, 

 and very likely his method of handling the trees has proven to be most 

 satisfactory. There are many ways which trees can be kept without 

 injuring their vitality. The usual custom is to dig in the fall and store 

 in packing houses and storage cellars, where the roots of the trees are 

 covered with dampened moss (spagnum) or straw. 



The continued association of the different nurserymen of our own 

 state, has brought into use quite uniform methods of handling trees. It 

 Is much better for the inexperienced man to trust to the judgment of 

 the nurseryman in buying trees, and so long as the nurseryman usually 

 guarantees his trees to live, if properly handled, this matter need not give 

 us much concern. 



Age Tree to Buy. — Some planters prefer yearling trees, but as a rule 

 It is just as well to let the nurseryman go to the expense of growing these 

 trees to a two-year -old, as experience has shown that there is very little 

 time gained in planting yearling trees, and they are so small when 

 planted in the orchard, that the damage from culture machinery is 

 greatly increased. In reference to the age of these trees we mean, a 



