OKCIIARU CULTURE, 525 



will need to be removed. All injured roots should be cut off. 

 All these operations, and all cutting of trees, should be done 

 with a very sharp knife, in order that the cuts may be perfectly 

 smooth. As this cutting of the roots lessens the power of the 

 plant, the stem must also be cut back to keep the balance. It 

 is always safe to cut it back one-third, and if it has grown tall 

 and thin with but few buds or branches, it will often need to he 

 cut back two-thirds of its length. If the tops are not cut back 

 the plant will not grow the first season, and thus a whole season 

 will be lost. At the time of dressing, the stocks should be 

 divided into two classes, to be planted separately in the nursery 

 rows ; the most vigorous, both in root and stem, will be ready 

 to bud the first season, while the feebler ones will have to wait 

 over until another. Here will be seen the advantasfe of that 



O 



thorough preparation of the soil, cultivation, and thinning 

 which produces strong stocks. The work of dressing and 

 selection having been done in the winter, the stocks will be 

 ready for replanting as soon as spring opens. The soil of the 

 nursery should be thoroughly prepared as directed for the 

 nursery. If the soil is pretty dayey it will answer for t^e apple, 

 pear, quince, and plum stocks ; but for the stone fruits, consider- 

 able sand must be worked into the clay. 



The rows should be three and a half feet apart, and eighteen 

 inches apart in the rows. The plot being ready, and the dis- 

 tances measured, a trench shokl be made deep snough and wide 

 enough to hold the roots without crowding. The roots of each 

 plant should be dipped in a tub of mud and set in the rows, and 

 perfectly pulverized earth pressed tightly about them. But 

 few plants should be taken out of their winter bed at a time, 

 and the roots should be exposed as little as possible. Plants 

 with a single straight tap root may be set with a dibble, 

 or sharp stick two or three inches in diameter; but care 



