BULLETIN 231] WALNUT CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 245 



DIGGING. 



For removing walnut trees from the nursery no better method has 

 been devised than simply digging out each tree individually by hand 

 with long-handled shovels. Plowing the dirt away is of very little 

 assistance and puts the ground into bad shape for walking and standing 

 upon during digging, especially in muddy weather. Usually the best 

 that can be done, especially with good sized trees, is to simply dig out 

 each tree entirely by hand. In doing this opinions differ as to the 

 amount of the taproot which should be preserved, and often the desires 

 of the purchaser must be followed to some extent in this matter, whether 

 or not they agree with the ideas of the nurseryman. One of the most 

 popular fallacies is that concerning the taproot of the walnut tree, 

 many people holding strongly to the view that the root must be kept 

 intact, even to a length of three or four feet, in order to insure proper 

 growth of the tree after planting in the orchard. This idea has been 

 abundantly disproven, and the fact is well established that a root not 

 more than eighteen or twenty inches in length, if well branched, and 

 especially if the top is properly cut back, usually makes a better tree 

 than one much longer. Walnut taproots are very large in diameter in 

 proportion to the size of the top and are composed of very soft, spongy 

 bark and wood. This tissue, if conditions are not such as to start the 

 root into growth promptly, is very susceptible to decay, and a long, un- 

 branched taproot is muclj more likely to remain in the ground without 

 sending out new growth until it begins to decay than a shorter, well 

 branched root. Fig. 45 represents the most desirable types of walnut 

 roots, 2 being of a more branching type than 1. Roots like these send 

 out new growth quickly and are in all respects the most desirable form. 

 In digging, therefore, care should be exercised not to cut off or bruise 

 the lateral roots within about a foot of the main stalk and the taproot 

 may then be cut off at a depth no greater at most than two feet. Even 

 this is more than is necessary if the root is well branched. Some roots 

 will be found which do not have any taproot even of this length, and in 

 such cases the main laterals should be preserved in good condition. It is 

 well to dig the trees as early as possible in the winter in order to have 

 them ready for sale to the first customers and to avoid the danger of 

 being caught by long-continued rainy weather during which the trees 

 can not be dug. Digging may commence as soon as the leaves have 

 fallen, although unless fairly heavy rains have fallen it may be found 

 necessary to irrigate the ground in order to facilitate the work. After 

 the trees are dug, if they are not wanted for immediate delivery they 

 may be heeled in at some convenient place by digging a trench in which 

 the roots are placed and thoroughly covered with earth. It is sometimes 

 convenient to put each tree back in the same hole from which it was dug, 



