Details of Planting an Orchard 73 



In Whitten's work, late fall planting, that is, during early 

 December, has been much more satisfactory than earlier, 

 October 15 to November 15. This appears to be because the 

 roots, contrary to common belief, begin no action until 

 after the surface of the ground starts to freeze; and when 

 the trees are planted a month or six weeks before it gets 

 cold enough to freeze the soil, the trees dry out and lose 

 vitality. The late fall-planted trees start root action as 

 soon as those planted early, and they escape the period of 

 several weeks of desiccation suffered by the latter. It 

 appears even that trees transplanted late may endure a 

 severe winter better than when left in the nursery. It has 

 been suggested that the slight desiccation of the top w^hich 

 doubtless occurs, even when planted late, may give, indi- 

 rectly, a greater cold resistance to the tree. 



In the milder sections, where the ground does not freeze 

 to the depth occupied by the roots, more or less root develop- 

 ment occurs all winter on newly planted trees. Thus, when 

 growing conditions return in the spring, the trees are in good 

 condition for immediate starting into growth w^ith the roots 

 fully supporting it. 



In case of spring-planted trees, the leaf-buds sometimes 

 begin to push before there is enough root action to support the 

 growth, thus resulting in a slow development of new wood 

 growth for a time. Yet in the colder sections of the coun- 

 try, spring planting only is possible as the trees if planted 

 in the fall would winter-kill. 



Blake ^ advises that fall-planted trees be cut back quite 

 heavily but not within three inches or more of the points 

 to which they will need ultimately to be cut back the follow- 

 ing spring. In the latitude of New Jersey both fall and 

 1 N. J. Exp. Sta. BuU. 219, p. 13. 



