TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES. 



169 



ON TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES. 



BY HENRY H. CRAPO, NEW-BEDFORD, MASS. 



A. J. Downing, Esq. — Dear Sir: The sea- 1 for the growth of particular trees. The soil 



son for transplanting trees, and, conse- 

 quently, the time for planting out fruit 

 trees in gardens and orchards, having ar- 

 rived, a word or two upon the subject may 

 not perhaps be altogether amiss at the pre- 

 sent time. Although great improvements, 

 in every branch of horticulture, have been 

 brought about within the last few years, 

 still it must be admitted that very much 

 remains yet to be done. And in nothing, 

 perhaps, is this more true than in the plant- 

 ing out of fruit trees. Many persons seem 

 to think that this is an absolute loss of both 

 labor and money, inasmuch as no benefit 

 can possibly accrue to themselves in return 

 for either. And, acting upon this princi- 

 ple, they suffer the trees, planted by the 

 hands of others, to disappear from their 

 premises, one after another, without ever 

 attempting to replace them. This, at least, 

 is the fact in many of the older settled sec- 

 tions of New-England. 



But, is it true that he who plants an or- 

 chard may not hope to live to reap its bene- 

 fits ? Certainly not. On the contrary, if 

 the work be v^ell done, he may reasonably 

 hope to enjoy almost an immediate return. 

 To ensuve this most desirable end, however, 

 the whole work must be well done; and 

 herein lies the secret. 



To begin, then, at the beginning, the 

 soil for the growth of fruit trees should be 

 selected not from the poorest, (as is most 

 generally the case,) but from the best land 

 which the cultivator possesses ; reference, 

 of course, being always had to the differ- 

 ent kinds of soil and situation best adapted 

 Vol. III. 11 



should be properly prepared and enriched, 

 by being well manured and thoroughly 

 worked, not merely for the space of a few 

 feet where the tree is to stand, but the en- 

 tire surface of the whole ground. Neither 

 should the working of the soil be confined 

 to a few inches of the surface, but should 

 extend to the depth of at least eighteen 

 inches; which, for the garden, may be 

 done with a spade, but for the orchard or 

 more extensive culture, with the common 

 and subsoil ploughs. For this deep work- 

 ing, a few loads of coarse manure to the 

 acre will not suffice. A liberal supply, in 

 the first instance, is required that not merely 

 a small portion, but the entire surface of the 

 ground may be enriched to the depth of at 

 least one foot. 



Previously to setting out the trees, the 

 ground should be repeatedly stirred to the 

 depth already stated, and sufficient time 

 given for the different soils to become 

 thereby well pulverised and intermixed. 

 When the ground is thus prepared, the 

 trees should be selected for their health 

 and vigor, rather than for their age and 

 size. Upon this point a very great error 

 prevails, at least in many places. A 

 healthy vigorous tree, two years from the 

 bud, will, in nine cases out of ten, make a 

 strong bearing tree sooner than one of three 

 times that age. The reason is very obvi- 

 ous, inasmuch as far less violence is done 

 to the nature and constitution of a good 

 young tree, by being removed from one 

 situation to another, and perhaps a very 

 different one, than to one that has become 



