216 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



getting out the trees when ready for market than a heavy soil, as the 

 latter is likely to be muddy and unworkable at the time when the 

 trees should come out. Larger trees, however, are grown on heavy soil 

 and big trees commonly bring the best prices. By means of fertiliza- 

 tion and an abundant use of water, the growth of trees on lighter soil 

 may be accelerated to a considerable extent. Walnut nursery trees 

 are grown more or less without any irrigation at all in the northern 

 part of the State, but under such conditions only a fairly heavy soil 

 with strong water-retaining properties should be considered. 



In planting the nursery, rows about three feet nine inches apart 

 should be furrowed out with a single plow, and the best sprouted nuts 

 may then be planted at a distance of from nine to twelve inches apart 

 in the row. Particular care is desirable at this point, placing the 

 nuts carefully in place by hand with the sprout pointing straight down 

 rather than dropping them in indiscriminately regardless of position. 

 In practice it will be found that some of the sprouts have made several 

 inches growth before planting commences and these should be handled 

 carefully and planted with a trowel. It is well for the planter to 

 carry such a tool in one hand, filling up the low places in the furrow, 

 digging holes for the longer sprouts and planting each nut as carefully 

 as possible. In some cases, on account of rainy weather or other 

 reasons, it is impossible to start planting early enough and many of the 

 nuts will form long sprouts and commence sending up a stem before 

 planting. These can still be planted out, although the work requires 

 more care. Root sprouts which are several inches or a foot or more in 

 length usually become broken, but will still grow successfully if not 

 broken off close to the point where they come from the nut. It is 

 indeed advisable to cut back long sprouts to a length of a few inches 

 rather than attempting to preserve each one and dig a deep hole for it. 

 Such trees will often form a large, branching root, more desirable than 

 one produced by the uninterrupted growth of the original tap root. 

 If the upward-growing sprout be broken off the nut should be dis- 

 carded. It may sometimes be necessary to go over the bed two or more 

 times in order to get all the good nuts out before the earliest have made 

 too much growth. For growing the best trees, however, only the nuts 

 which germinate most promptly and vigorously should be used, and it 

 will be found necessary to discard a considerable percentage of the nuts 

 placed in the sand. After planting, the nuts should be covered to an 

 average depth of about three inches, which may be done with a single 

 plow, if the nursery is large, going over the ground afterwards with a 

 harrow in order to smooth over the irregularities and even-down the 

 ridges. Special care should be taken not to plant too deep. 



If the nuts have been well sprouted, the seedling trees will soon begin 



