BUYING THE PIANTS 



51 



do best when set. They should never be older than "one year." With 

 Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries, Oranges, Lemons, Nuts, and other 

 trees, practically all fruit growers prefer two-year trees to older ones 

 and a steadily increasing number favor one- year trees. Such trees 

 cost less to buy and to ship. None but thrifty ones are salable at that 

 age a very important point. They may be headed just where 

 desired (Fig. 14), whereas older ones cannot, having already formed 

 their heads a specially important point where low heads are desired, 

 as they should be. Also young trees transplant far easier and better 

 than do older trees. 



Except as specified below, the argument of some nursery agents 

 that trees older than two years will bear sooner than young ones is 



Fig. 27. Heeling-in trees either for holding over Winter or until planting time is easily 

 done by burying the roots and part or even all of the trunks 



not sufficiently supported by the experience of practical fruit growers 

 to be accepted. The exception is in the case of trees which are syste- 

 matically root pruned while still standing in the nursery row. But 

 such trees necessarily cost much more than does ordinary nursery stock, 

 so they are in a class by themselves. 



Spring vs. Fall planting is a moot point. The three main advan- 

 tages of Fall planting are: 1, Probability of getting the desired 

 varieties; 2, the trees being planted in the Autumn, growth may 

 begin as soon as Spring opens; 3, the work being done in the Fall 

 does not interfere with the Spring rush. On the other hand nursery- 

 men may be tempted to dig before the trees are "ripe" ; that is, before 

 the leaves fall naturally. This is always a mistake which often proves 



