HORTICULTURE 63 



grafting. The end of each year's growth is marked by a row of rings 

 or scars around the trunk and branches. To tell the age of a tree, 

 begin at the tip of a branch and follow back to the base of the tree, 

 counting the scale rings. The tree will be one year older than the 

 number of rings. It is best to use the branches at the top. In trees 

 on which the tips of the branches have been injured or removed, 

 during the summer, some difficulty may be experienced in determin- 

 ing definitely but this method will serve in most cases without diffi- 

 culty. 



The best age at which to plant trees is a much mooted question. 

 The present tendency is to plant trees which are too old. The upper 

 limit of age for an apple tree is three years. Two-year-old trees will 

 be found better than older ones in most cases. The present demand 

 for large trees causes the nurseryman to prune off the side branches 

 along the first and second year's growth, thus in a great many in- 

 stances spoiling the shape of the tree or at least making it necessary 

 to form the head too high. 



Another factor which tends to give inferior trees where they 

 remain long in the nursery is the fact that they are grown very close 

 together, and this forces the branches to grow more in one plane 

 which result is lop-sided trees. The shorter the period the tree passes 

 in the nursery, the more likely it is to be a good tree when the grower 

 receives it. 



It is true the younger trees require longer to come into bearing 

 after being planted, but the orchardist can better afford to give them 

 one or two additional years attention and have the opportunity to 

 prune and care for them so they will make first class trees, than to let 

 the nurseryman grow them for the additional length of time, and 

 have to give the same amount of care later on in trying to change 

 a spoiled tree into a passably good one. It is not the intention to 

 convey the idea that no good three-year-old trees are produced in the 

 nursery, but with the present systems and practices the chances are 

 very much against it. 



The two-year-old tree is probably the best for commercial plant- 

 ing, although one-year-olds are very popular with many large 

 growers. The former is a compromise age as the two-year-old is less 

 likely to have been spoiled in the nursery than an older tree, and it 

 saves one year in the orchard before bearing. If, however, suitable 

 two-year-old trees cannot be secured, by all means use the younger 

 trees. 



Best Height of Head. By "height of head" is meant the dis- 

 tance between the base of the tree, after planting, and the height at 

 which the main branches grow out. Formerly trees with branches 

 lower than five or six feet were not desired because when lower they 

 were supposed to be very difficult to work under. Today no good 

 commercial orchardist would think of planting trees with such high 

 heads. There are numerous reasons why a low-headed is preferable 

 to a high-headed tree, but the chief one is because it facilitates 

 orchard operations. In this day of pruning and spraying and high 

 prices for labor in picking, the orchardist does not want a tree so 



