14 PREPAKLNG KOK PLANTING. 



CHAPTER V. 



SETTING THE APPLE ORCHARD. 



DIGGING TREKS FROM THE NURSERY — PREPARING TREES FOR 

 PLANTING FORMING THE HEAD — PLANTING THE TREES CUL- 

 TIVATION — TURF CULTURE — SUPPLYING FOOD TO THE ORCHARD. 



Digging the Trees from the Nursery. — To those who may 

 have grown their own trees, I otter a few words of advice as to 

 the best way to get the trees from tlie ground with the least in- 

 jury. Nursery trees are best dug by three men; two with spades, 

 and one to pull out the trees after they are loosened. The two 

 men with spades first remove the surface soil down to the upper 

 lateral roots, for a space of at least two feet from the trunk on each 

 side; the spades are then inserted, the soil loosened, and the roots 

 outside of the circle of soil removed are cut off. After loosening 

 the soil, both spades are inserted, and with a lifting movement, the 

 third man at the same tinu' pulling, the tree is lifted with nearly all 

 of the fibrous roots within the v~\yAvv of two or three feet. The trees 

 should be thrown in j)ik's of from ten to twenty-five, and covered 

 with a mat or blanket. If not to be planted at once, they should 

 be removed to near the place of planting and be "heeled in;" 

 that is, tlie roots covered carefully with soil. 



Preparing the Tree for Planting. — No matter how care- 

 fully the trees are dug, more or less of the roots will be destroyed 

 or injured. As trees are often received from the nurseries, there 

 is little to them but the top and a few stubs of roots. In this 

 condition, there are a large number of buds on the top to be 

 supplied with food and moisture from a small amount of roots. 

 The consequence is that none of the branches make much growth ; 

 or, ])erhaps, evaporation is so great from the expanding buds and 

 the large amount of surface of the branches exposed, that the 

 moisture is dried out faster than it is supplied by the scanty roots, 

 and the tree dies. 



To remedy this condition, the top should be reduced iii propor- 

 tion to the amount of injury to the roots. The older and larger 

 the tree, the more severely must it be pruned. The large roots, 

 wherever injured, should be cut off smooth, as decay is much 



