ORCHARD FRUITS 43 



fibers of the roots. I select thick or rainy days for 

 setting, and carry our trees on the stone boat, or in 

 our arms, without injuring the roots, where on a 

 hot day they would dry, or on a cold day they 

 would be greatly injured by the chill. I do not 

 puddle. I think under some circumstances pud- 

 dling would be beneficial, but if the trees are 

 handled carefully, in a sandy soil, the majority of 

 the trees will live. I have known neighbors around 

 me to lose 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the trees 

 set out, when I have received 700 to 800 and lost 

 only a dozen or so. I have known others to lose 

 50 per cent, and I have not lost 10 per cent at the 

 same time, from the same nursery and the same 

 kind of trees." 



WHEN AND HOW TO PRUNE 



The question frequently arises, when to prune. 

 Among the earlier horticulturists this question was 

 often answered as follows : Prune when your 

 knife is sharp. This is a comparatively safe 

 method to follow with most plants, but where the 

 problem involves the management of extensive com- 

 mercial plantations it is not so easy to prune in this 

 miscellaneous fashion. The work must necessarily 

 be done at some particular season and carried on in 

 a systematic manner after some definite plan. 



With most orchardists and gardeners pruning 

 can best be done during the winter or early spring 

 months, and where the object is the removal of 

 small branches this season is undoubtedly quite as 

 satisfactory as any other. In fact, pruning during 

 late spring, about the time or just previous to the 

 beginning of growth, is particularly advantageous 

 with the peach, because at that season, as a rule, 



