48 



SCIENCE AND FRUIT GROWING 



younger or older trees : with the bush pears, the two- and three - 

 year-old trees gave equally good results, but both better than 

 those from younger or older trees : with the standards, only 

 two ages at planting were examined, and the results were in 

 favour of the younger trees two years in preference to four 

 years. 



Relative Crops during Ten Years from Trees Planted at 

 Different Ages 



TIME OF PLANTING 



Then came the question as to the best time for planting. 

 The general belief is that the earlier trees are planted after the 

 fall of the leaf, the better, because trees thus planted will throw 

 out a certain number of new rootlets before the winter, and thus 

 be more prepared to make an early start into growth when the 

 spring comes. That rootlets are thrown out in this way, may 

 be easily established by lifting the tree again before the winter 

 is over : out of forty-two trees, representing apples, pears, and 

 stocks of apples, pears and plums, which were planted in 

 November, twenty-nine were found to have formed a more or 

 less considerable output of rootlets before the middle of January 

 (IX, 53). Where trees have to be obtained from a distant 

 nursery, however, the date at which planting can be performed 

 is rarely early enough for this factor to operate to any appre- 

 ciable extent. Observations made with such trees when planted 

 in the winter and the spring revealed no differences exceeding 

 3 per cent, in their subsequent behaviour; but with trees raised 

 in the farm nursery, and available, therefore, for transplanta- 

 tion at any moment, the case was otherwise (II, 192). These 

 trees were apples on the crab and paradise stocks, and all of 

 them three years old. Batches of them were planted on the 

 dates indicated below, and the increase in their weights deter- 

 mined four years later (V, 82). 



Planted on 

 Oct. 30 Dec. 3 Mar. 13 Mar. 30 Ap. 16 



Increase per cent. . 107 61 67 (37) 56 



