CHAPTER VIII. 



DIGGING TREES FROM THE NURSERY ROW, AND 

 PACKING. 



THERE is no branch of the nurseryman's business 

 that requires more care and attention than removing 

 young trees from the nursery row. On the judi- 

 cious performance of this very delicate operation 

 depends to a great extent the future success or fail- 

 ure of the pear orchard. From practical experience 

 for the past fifteen years in buying fruit trees, I feel 

 confident in saying there is less care exercised in this 

 department than in any other connected with the 

 nursery. As a general rule (of course there are some 

 exceptions), the labor of " lifting trees " is performed 

 by strength and ignorance. The men who are em- 

 ployed for this kind of work care but little if a third 

 or even one-half of the roots should be detached 

 from the tree by careless and rude means, so long as 

 the required number of trees is dug out. The 

 method practised in many nurseries is : one man on 

 each side of the row of trees with an obedient spade 

 in hand, while a third man takes hold of the top of 



