MANUAL OF GENEEAL AGEICULTUEE. 63 



bly, dig two holes rather than go beyond a foot deep. 

 Place a stake by the seeds with your name on it so that 

 they may be readily located. Allow the seeds to remain in 

 the ground about six weeks. 



3. Transplanting to the Nursery. The best location 

 for a nursery is on loam or sandy soil, but trees may be 

 successfully grown in less favorable soil. The land should 

 be plowed deep and thoroughly cultivated. By the use of 

 string and stakes dig with a hoe a trench the desired 

 length. No definite depth can be given for planting the 

 seeds, but the smaller ones such as pear or apple should 

 be planted one and one-half inches deep, while the larger 

 ones like the peach or apricot two inches deep. 



Carefully dig up the stratified seeds and take them 

 to the nursery taking care not to injure the young sprouts. 

 Plant them in rows about six to eight inches apart. The 

 rows should be about three and one-half feet apart for 

 horse cultivation, but for hand cultivation two feet is suf- 

 ficient. Plant only the sprouted seeds. Mark with stakes 

 the location of each set of seeds. The stakes should be 

 uniform in size and, if desired, painted white. A con- 

 venient size for stakes is 1x2x24 inches. 



4. Stripping the Young Seedlings. By the following 

 summer it will be found that the small branches have 

 grown down close to the ground. In order to facilitate 

 the operation of either budding or grafting it is necessary 

 to break off with the fingers the young limbs close to the 

 ground and up to a distance of five or six inches, accord- 

 ing to the size of the tree. Nothing else need be done to 

 the trees the first summer, but of course the ground should 

 be well cultivated, weeds kept down and irrigation prac- 

 ticed according to local conditions. 



5. Grafting and Budding. Grafting. Where graft- 

 ing is to be done the scions of the desired varieties should 

 be secured when the trees are pruned in December or 

 January. Care for the scions and insert them as described 

 in Exercise 56. Budding. What is commonly called 

 "June Budding" is usually practiced in California in 

 April or May. The bud is inserted close to the ground in 



