CARE OF YOUNG APPLE TREES AND EVERGREENS. 223 



What variety ta plant. If you have no experience and do not 

 know what variety is best for your locality, write your nearest 

 nurseryman and leave the selection with him. Do not set out many 

 varieties. Stick to some standard variety that has been raised 

 successfully in your locality. 



Avoid blighting varieties, such as Transcendant crab and Whit- 

 ney's. Try to get low branches, small trees, from three to 

 five feet. I would prefer a three foot tree. Set the tree 

 from twelve to eighteen inches deep. Fifteen inches is about 

 right in our soil. Fill in cultivated soil and press firmly about 

 the roots. Take care and not break the small rootlets. Lean your 

 tree a little towards the two o'clock sun, or a little to the south- 

 west, in order to avoid sun scald. Be careful and not make any 

 mound about your trees. Now you are ready with your first 

 step ; you have started right. 



But now comes the next step. Hoiv to care for them in 

 order to make them grow. When trees are small it is advisable 

 to grow small fruits or vegetables of some kind between your 

 trees. Potatoes or mangels answer the purpose. When you cul- 

 tivate your root crops you cultivate, your apple trees. Cultivate 

 often and thoroughly. Start your cultivator early and cultivate at 

 least once a week. Avoid ridging up near your trees. Pull the 

 weeds near the trees or use a hoe as often as necessary. 



Kill all the pocket gophers on your place, or they will pay too 

 much attention to the roots of your trees. When winter sets in 

 throw a mound of earth about your trees in order to protect them 

 from field mice. Take a bar of cheap soap and rub the branches 

 of your trees in order to protect them from jack rabbits, etc. 



Evergreens. If it is necessary to start right in order to 

 grow apple trees successfully, it is more so in growing ever- 

 evergreens. For what purpose do you want them? You want 

 a few specimens for the love of them. Different varieties by them- 

 selves are a contrast to several varieties of deciduous trees. Others 

 want them for hedge purposes or for windbreaks or for growing 

 along a public highway, etc. Select the variety that is best suited 

 for your winter. Always get transplanted trees grown near or in 

 your locality and in the same kind of soil you have. If possible 

 avoid shipment by rail but drive to the nursery in a wagon with 

 a double box on. Look at the different varieties as they grow 

 in the nursery. Look at the same species half or full grown. Ask 

 questions and find out all you can about the secrets of growing 

 evergreens (if there are any), and you will not regret the extra 

 trip. Select your trees or the kind the nurseryman recommends 



