CHAPTER V 



Buying the Plants 



Nurserymen's Reliability What and Where to Buy Spring vs. Fall 

 Planting Time to Order 



LONG experience and wide observation prompt me to say that 

 the nurseryman is the backbone of the stock he sells; and that 

 the number of upright nurserymen is legion. I have a con- 

 siderable acquaintance among nurserymen, but I don't know one 

 whose reputation for square dealing I can call in question. In all my 

 dealing with nurseries I have invariably been well treated. 



This statement I make in simple justice to a maligned body 

 of men the nature of whose business I know from personal contact 

 to be peculiarly exacting, liable to carping criticism and to whose 

 splendid work the whole continent owes a debt of gratitude which 

 can never be repaid, for the introduction and dissemination of new and 

 superior as well as staple fruits and ornamental plants. 



I therefore say to any reader hesitating to plant certain varieties 

 of fruits: Consult several nurserymen, more particularly those whose 

 plantations are comparatively near-by. If there are none within easy 

 reach go farther, to the large ones. These men will always gladly give 

 advice as to the kind of stock to purchase, when to buy, etc. In 

 general, however, on points such as these it is well to know the under- 

 lying principles, for nurserymen like the rest of us are pretty much 

 "sot in their ways" and may therefore unduly emphasize some pet 

 theory and disagree with one another. 



The question of the locality North or South from which to 

 buy stock may be dismissed by saying that while in theory a tree 

 grown in the North should do best in the North and nice versa, 

 experience shows that well-grown, well-ripened stock from the South, 

 properly handled, does fully as well as Northern grown, and stock from 

 the North equally well in the South. Such a statement, however, 

 must not be allowed to dispel the other advantages of buying near 

 home; namely, smaller freight bills, less drying of stock in transit, 

 interest of the local nurseryman, etc. 



The youth of the stock is highly important. Blackberry and Red 

 Raspberry plants should be one-season "suckers" or "root cuttings," 

 Black Raspberry and Dewberry one-season "tips" or in any of these 

 cases older "transplants," the latter preferred because sturdier and 

 likely to bear sooner. Strawberries may be pot-grown for sale during 



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