MAKING THE ORCHARD. 



45 



The varieties and the age and form of the tree 

 will be the first consideration. 



A chapter will be devoted to varieties, to which 

 the reader is referred. It is generally better to plant 

 a small or medium sized tree than a large one. A 

 well grown two year old as grown in the north, or 

 a good yearling from the south is a good size. Such 

 a tree will be from 3 to 5 feet high. A very excel- 

 lent tree, and one I would adopt as a model is made 

 by cutting back the yearling to the ground before 

 spring growth begins. Allow but a single stem to 

 grow from this cleft. In the fall we have a straight 

 stem supplied with leaves and buds its entire 

 length frequently with spurs, and about the height 

 above given. This tree if grown in the north 

 should be taken up carefully in the fall after the 

 wood is entirely ripe, and either properly buried or 

 wintered in cellar. The latter is better if done cor- 

 rectly. Such a tree goes to the orchard in the 

 spring following with every part exactly as it was 

 when lifted the previous fall. Its vitality is unim- 

 paired, and such trees will usually make about the 

 same growth, and ripen their wood the same as if 

 they had not been transplanted. 



This tree might have been allowed to stand in 

 the nursery row all winter without necessarily 

 being diseased in the spring, but it could be no 

 better nor stronger for its battle with the elements 

 during a severe winter. Experiment has proved 

 that such trees are much heavier in spring than 

 those wintered in nursery row. Before the latter 



