44 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



by the wind or lifted by the frost. True, the young tree might 

 be staked until the side roots are firmly started, but that is not 

 practical on a large scale or the plan I have in mind. I have 

 decided therefore to leave short side roots on the trees and 

 dig small holes with a spade so that we can pack the roots in 

 firmly. Otherwise I shall follow Mr. Stringfellow's methods 

 closely, except that while he advocates cultivation, until the 

 tree comes in bearing, I expect to mulch from the first and use 

 fertilizer. 



The Pictures. Figure i shows one of the larger peach 

 trees planted in a crowbar hole in the fall, after other trees 

 were pulled out. Figure 2 shows the growth this tree made 

 the first season after planting. It was "mulched" by piling 

 a few stones around it, and had no fertilizer. Figure 3 shows 

 the same tree with its clothes on. It is, as you will see, a low- 

 headed bush. Its wood is firm and solid. It made a slow, 

 gentle growth and has put out a fair setting of fruit buds, 

 which are now mostly alive. I shall let it produce a few 

 peaches this year. Figure 4 shows a June-budded tree planted 

 in a crow-bar hole in good sod. It has never been cultivated, 

 but simply mulched once with manure and again with cut 

 grass. It is quite easy to see what this tree would have come 

 to had it been headed high and fed. These trees will give an 

 idea of what I have in mind on this windy and rocky hillside. 

 I prefer low-down chunky bushes which can be pruned with a 

 knife, and picked and sprayed from the ground. By crowd- 

 ing such trees 16 feet apart and thinning the fruit severely, 

 I think w^e can make an acre of our poor land pay well. 

 Experienced peach growlers tell me that the plan will fail 

 because I do not get wood growth enough on the trees. They 

 favor forcing the trees to large growth and then cutting half of 

 it off. They ought to know^, but I am going ahead to find out 

 what is best for our rough land. The picture at Figure 5 

 shows a Kieffer pear and a peach tree as they came from the 

 nursery, and how similar ones were trimmed for planting. 

 These trees were planted on poor soil in spade holes, with the 

 dirt pounded hard about the roots. A space about three feet 

 in diameter was hoed around them three times and about a 

 pound of high grade fertilizer scattered around each one. 

 Weeds and brush were cut and thrown around them. Last 



