APPLES 



137 



the nursery row for one or moi'e years 

 before setting them in the orchard. Such 

 a practice affords an opportunity for 

 weeding out the weak and undesirable 

 trees before they reach their permanent 

 location, and permits of the full use of 

 the orchard land for other purposes for 



Fig. L'. A Wei I -shaped Uyeai-uld Tree. 



one or more years without affecting the 

 development of the trees. It is also 

 claimed that such a practice induces early 

 bearing. The chief objection to the prac- 

 tice is the added expense in handling 

 such large trees when they are finally 

 transferred to their permanent location. 



Fig. 3. Poorly-shaped Young Tree. The 

 Head Has Been Started Too High. 



First and Second Grades 



Nurserymen frequently offer two grades 

 of trees, known as first-class and second- 

 class. Those of the latter grade are usu- 

 ally ill-shaped or undersized trees and 

 may be obtained at a lower rate. Some- 



times fairly good results follow the use 

 of second-class stock, but as a rule the 

 saving is not sufficient to warrant the 

 taking of any chances on such trees. The 

 largest trees of a certain age are not 

 necessarily the best for planting. They 

 are more difficult to handle, and as a rule 

 are more seriously affected by transplant- 

 ing. Southern-grown nursery stock is us- 

 ually larger than that grown in the North. 

 This is not a serious objection, but the 

 extremely large trees receive such a 

 shock at the time of transplanting that 

 they frequently make a very slow and 

 scanty growth the first season. 



Healthy Stock 

 Care should be exercised in selecting 

 stock free from disease and injurious in- 

 sects. It is a common thing to find trees 

 affected with crown-gall, woolly aphis, and 

 San .lose scale. It is important also to 

 make sure that the trees have been well 

 cared for after digging. Most nursery 

 stock is dug in the fall and either heeled 

 in over winter or stored in cool sheds, 

 cellars, or cold storage houses. Trees 

 with bark that has become blackened, dry 

 and shriveled, or soft and loose, are likely 

 to have been injured in storage and 

 should not be accepted. 



C. D. Jarvis. 

 ."^torrs. Conn. 



Age of Trees to Plant 



It is the habit of many orchardists in 

 the middle and eastern states to plant 

 two-year-old nursery stock; but in the Pa- 

 cific states the choice is almost univer- 

 sally for the one-year-old stock. 



Professor Fabian Garcia, speaking from 

 the standpoint of New Mexico, says: 



"The age of trees to plant varies as a 

 rule from one to three years old from 

 the bud. In some parts of the East the 

 one-year-old is planted, while in other 

 parts the two and three-year-old tree is 

 used. In special cases large trees from 

 four to six years old can be planted with 

 fairly satisfactory results. The general 

 rule, however, is to plant young trees. 

 Experience shows that the one and two- 

 year-old apple trees are to be preferred. 

 If the one-year-old trees are large and 

 well grown they can be used in place 



