172 THE NURSERY LIST. 



Apple, continued. 



If the stocks are to be cultivated with a horse, the rows 

 should be 3 or 3^ feet apart. Some growers sow in nar- 

 row drills and some in broad ones. The broad drills are 

 usually 6 to 10 inches wide. The earth is removed to the 

 depth of 2 or 3 inches, if it is loose and in good condition, 

 the seed is scattered thinly on the surface and the earth 

 hoed back over them. If the ground is likely to bake, the 

 seeds should not be sown so deep ; and it is always well, 

 in such cases, to apply some very light and clean mulch. 

 The plants should be well cultivated during the season, 

 and they should attain a height of 6 to 12 inches or more 

 the first year. If the plants come thickly, they must be 

 thinned out. 



In the fall of the first year the seedlings should be large 

 enough to be dug and sold to general nurserymen. 

 Sometimes the poorest plants are allowed to stand 

 another year, but they are usually so scattering that they 

 do not pay for the use of the land, and they should be 

 transplanted the same as the larger stock, or the weakest 

 ones may be thrown away. The stocks are dug with a 

 plow or tree-digger and heeled-in closely, so that the 

 leaves ' ' sweat ' ' and fall off. The plants are then stored 

 in sand, moss or sawdust in a cellar. Before they are 

 planted, the tops are cut off near the crown, usually with a 

 hatchet on a block. The stocks are then graded into 

 budding and grafting sizes. The general nurserymen buy 

 these stocks in fall or early winter. Those which are root- 

 grafted are worked during late winter, but those intended 

 for budding, or which must be grown another season 

 before they attain sufficient size for working, are 

 heeled-in, sometimes being "dressed" (see Chapter V); 

 in the spring they are set in nursery rows, about a foot 

 apart in the row (page 146). The nurseryman reckons the 

 age of his tree from the top or graft, rather than from the 

 time the seed was sown. 



Seedling raising is usually conducted by men who make 

 it a business, and who supply the general nurserymen of 

 the country. It is largely practiced at the west, where the 

 deep and strong soils produce a rapid growth. The year- 

 ling trees are graded by the western growers into about 

 four lots : "Extras," or those at least ^inch in diameter 

 at the crown, and having 12 inches of both top and root; 

 these are used mostly as budding stocks the next season. 

 " Commons," those between fV ar >d j^inch at the crown, 

 and having 8 inches of root ; these are used for immediate 



