TREES AND SHRUBS ON THE FARM 5 



established nursery, one that has developed some respect for its 

 reputation. It is also safe to say that the trees should be bought as 

 near home as possible. The local nursery is generally able to 

 furnish kinds adapted to your conditions, and the stock from the 

 nearby nursery has a better chance of reaching you in good condition 

 than that from a distance. If you can not buy your plants near 

 home, it is probably best to try some northern nursery, where varie- 

 ties adapted to our conditions are more likely to be carried in stock. 

 If the desired variety can not be purchased of the northern nursery- 

 man, one need not hesitate to buy wherever it can be found. 



One should buy always a good quality of plants, and under 

 Montana conditions it is best to buy young plants. They are cheaper 

 and more likely to grow. Forest tree seedlings one or two years 

 old may be started more readily than older trees, and such plants 

 are often used in starting windbreaks. Older plants are usually 

 preferred for planting about the yard. A few trees about the house 

 may be set with a little more care and given some water if necessary. 

 Those listed by nurserymen as five to six feet high are a very satis- 

 factory size. Shrubs listed as eighteen to twenty-four inches high 

 are very good for yard planting. 



Orders should be placed in early fall for stock to be delivered 

 the following spring. As soon as the trees arrive they should be 

 unpacked and heeled-in in some shady place, as on the north side 

 of a building, or stored in a cool cellar. They should be kept cool 

 to retard the growth of the buds and moist to prevent them from 

 drying out. In heeling-in the trees, dig a trench and set the roots 

 well down in the moist soil and tramp the earth well about them. 

 If the soil is not quite damp, it is best to settle it about the roots 

 with water. If the weather is dry and especially if the trees look 

 rather dry when unpacked, it is best to bury them root and top in 

 moist soil. If everything is in readiness when the trees arrive, they 

 may be planted at once. Should they appear dry, it is best to soak 

 them in fresh water from twelve to twenty-four hours before plant- 

 ing. Trees planted in a shriveled condition are seldom able to revive, 

 while the same trees freshened in soil or water may make a successful 

 growth. 



SEASON TO PLANT 



Under Montana conditions, trees and shrubs should be planted 

 in early spring, as soon as the native vegetation starts. The young 



