700 BOARD OF AGllICULTURE. 



Vigorous young plants are much better than those that 

 have been a very long time in growing to suitable size. The 

 average age for Iruit trees and plants in the best condition 

 for transplanting is about as follows : Apple, three j^ears 

 from bud ; pear, 3 years from bud ; peach, 1 year from bud ; 

 plum, 2 years from bud ; cherry, 2 years from bud ; quince, 

 3 years from cutting or root graft; grape, 1 year No. 1, or 

 2 years No. 2, from cuttings or layers; currant, 2 years 

 from cuttings ; gooseberries, 2 years from cuttings ; rasp- 

 berries and blackberries, 1 year from suckers or root cut- 

 tings ; strawberries, only new runners of last season's 

 growth should be used, the old plants having black roots, 

 with the feeding surfaces so far from the crown that when 

 they are dug nearly all of them are destroyed. 



Preparation of Trees and Plants for Planting. 



It is impossible to remove a tree from the nursery to the 

 orchard without injuring some of the larger roots, while 

 nearly all the rootlets and all the root hairs will be destroyed 

 by only a slight exposure to the air. As there are no feed- 

 ing roots on the newly transplanted trees until new ones are 

 formed, if none of the buds or shoots are removed, the 

 supply of moisture being insufficient, all make a very feeble 

 growth, or fail to develop at all, especially if a drought 

 comes on early in the summer. To prevent *this injury and 

 ensure a vigorous starting of a few buds, the top should be 

 cut back in proportion to the amount of injury to the roots, 

 which will generally be from one-half to two-thirds of the 

 entire top. In this pruning all shoots should be cut entirely 

 away that are not needed for the formation of a perfect head, 

 and the others cut back one-half or two-thirds of their 

 length. 



If the head is not formed high enough upon the trunk, it 

 may often be carried higher by cutting off all lateral shoots, 

 leaving the most central one for a leader, upon which will be 

 formed the new head, several inches higher than the first. 

 This may be still carried up by pinching the ends of the low- 

 est laterals, to force the growth into the higher ones. Thus, 

 in a single season, the head may be carried from one to two 

 feet higher than it was when received from the nursery. All 



