136 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



theii' trees are not of the desired shape, 

 It would be better to order from a dis- 

 tant nursery rather than to accept un- 

 desirable stock. By dealing with a local 

 nurseryman the buyer can visit the nur- 

 sery and personally select his stock, and 

 at the same time reduce the risk of intro- 

 ducing injurious insects and diseases that 

 are not common to the neighborhood. 

 Again, home nurserymen are more likely 

 to supply the kind of stock ordered and 

 to correctly label their goods, for if they 

 persistently misrepresent they cannot 

 long continue in business. The agent 

 for a distant firm, on the other hand, 

 can constantly change his field of opera- 

 tion. 



(3) Still further by securing trees at 

 the nearby nursery all danger from dam- 

 age by long transit and the injurious 

 effects of sunshine and frosts are avoided; 

 besides, if the farmer makes his pur- 

 chase direct from the nurseryman, he 

 will save the expense of the middleman 

 or agent, and is less liable to the mis- 

 takes and injury that may occur through 

 repeated handling. 



To sum up. trees from the nurser.v 

 should be: 



1. First-class stock. 



2. Vigorous and stocky with good 

 root systems. 



3. Well shaped and low headed. 



4. Preferably purchased from local 

 nursery if good stock can be obtained. 



5. Correctly named. 



(1) Fabian Garcia. 



(2) C. n. .Tarvis. 



(3) G. B. Brackett. 



Kind of Trees to Buy 



Most growers plant two-year-old trees 

 and, other things being equal, they are 

 probably most desirable. It is often dif- 

 ficult, however, to get such trees of the 

 desired shape. 



The two-year-old tree has its top formed 

 in the crowded nursery row and there- 

 fore does not assume the proper shape. 

 During recent years the difficulty of get- 

 ting properly shaped trees has been 

 greatly lessened, for the nurserymen are 

 now heading their trees much lower. 

 The low-headed tree is now generally 

 preferred, but with those varieties, like 



Rhode Island Greening and Tolman, that 

 are naturally spreading, the head may 

 be started higher, than with varieties like 

 the Yellow Transparent, that are nat- 

 urally upright growers. 



Fig. 1. A Two-year-iilii Nuisei-y Tree Befcire 

 and After I'l-unlng. This tree was not headed 

 in enough the first year and it was there- 

 fore necessary to remove much of the top. 

 In addition it was headed too high in the be- 

 ginning. 



*lf two-year-old trees of the proper 

 shape cannot be obtained it would be 

 better to buy yearlings, which are mere 

 whips, and plant them in a nursery row 

 for a year, giving them more room than 

 they previously occupied. In this way 

 the grower may shape his trees to suit 

 himself. Tliis method is especially ap- 

 plicable to the man who must clear his 

 land before planting, for the reason that 

 there would be no loss of time. With 

 the man who has his ground ready to 

 plant, on the other hand, it would mean 

 a loss of one year. Some recommend 

 the buying of yearling trees and plac- 

 ing them back in the nursery row for 

 two or more years, or the buying of two- 

 year-old trees and putting them back in 



• In Northwest one-year-old stock preferred. 

 -Ed. 



