HIGH HEADING 55 



to be dug so early, in order to insure their getting to the orchard 

 man on time, that the nurseryman may be tempted into digging 

 them before they are mature enough for the leaves to drop 

 naturally. The leaves must therefore be stripped, and the 

 stripped tree is not so good as one which loses its leaves 

 naturally, because it is robbed of much plant food which the 

 leaves would have supplied had they been allowed to remain on 

 the trees. Stripping the leaves too early exposes the immature 

 buds and uncalloused leaf scars to the weather. There is the 

 additional objection to autumn planting that, since the roots are 

 not well established in the soil, the tree can not withstand un- 

 favorable winter conditions so well. Alternate freezing and 

 thawing during variable weather is likely to make trouble, 

 particularly if the soil is at all heavy. 



The chief advantages of spring planting are that the grower 

 gets his trees in better condition and that the danger from winter 

 injury is avoided. The main objection to spring planting is that 

 it is likely to be delayed until too late in the season. In the 

 writer's experience the ideal time to set trees is just as early in 

 the spring as the soil is in good condition to work. 



Pruning after Setting. After the tree is set it must be 

 pruned (Fig. 21). If it is a one year whip this pruning con- 

 sists merely in cutting it off or heading it at the height desired. 

 Just what this height shall be will vary greatly with different 

 men. The writer is very strongly in favor of a decidedly low 

 head. The trees which he, himself, has set have been headed all 

 the way from two feet to six inches but principally at eighteen 

 inches. The height ought undoubtedly to vary with the variety 

 (Fig. 22). Such very drooping varieties as the Rhode Island 

 Greening apple, for example, ought certainly to be headed as 

 high as two feet and might perhaps be headed higher, while with 

 such very upright varieties as the Sutton apple and the Wickson 

 plum there is no particular excuse for having any trunk at all. 



High Heading. As the writer has heard the matter pre- 

 sented, the principal arguments in favor of a high head are as 

 follows : 



