238 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



ally make a start in spring before the ground is hard 

 enough to allow of spring planting. This early start 

 not only means a better growth the first season, but, 

 what is more important, trees which get a very early 

 hold upon the soil endure the droughts of midsummer 

 much better than trees planted in spring. Planting 

 is nearly always better done in the settled weather 

 and workable soil of fall than in the capricious days 

 and in the hurry of springtime ; and the orehardist 

 is free to begin cultivation at a time when lie 

 would otherwise be planting his trees. Again, it is 

 generally better to buy trees in the fall, when the 

 stock of varieties is full and when the best trees 

 are yet unsold : these trees must be kept until 

 planting time, and it is about as cheap and fully 

 as safe to plant them directly in the field as to heel 

 them in until spring. 



In fall planting, however, it is important to insist 

 that the trees shall be thoroughly well matured. In 

 order to move stock quickly, it is the practice of 

 some nurserymen to "strip" the trees before the 

 growth is completed; that is, the leaves are stripped 

 off, the growth stopped, and the trees are put upon 

 the market for September deliveries. This process 

 weakens the trees, and many failures in young plan- 

 tations are probably attributable to this cause. Such 

 trees may die outright, especially if set in the fall 

 and a hard winter follows ; or they may live to 

 make a dwindling growth for the first few years. 

 Like early -weaned calves, they lack vitality and push. 

 If one were setting an orchard in the fall, he should 



