84 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



have suggested some of the most promising kirais. Further ex- 

 periments may lengthen this list. 



Many are undecided as to where they should purchase stock. 

 In the first place we may say that it should be bought of a well 

 established nursery, a nursery that has developed some respect 

 for its reputation. It is also safe to say that the trees should be 

 bought as near home as is possible. The local nursery is generally 

 able to furnish kinds adapted to your conditions, and the stock 

 from the nearby nursery has a better chance of reaching you in good 

 condition than that from a distance. If you cannot buy stock near 

 home, it is probably best to try some northern nursery, where 

 varieties adapted to our conditions are more likely to be carried in 

 stock. If the desired variety cannot be purchased of the northern 

 nurseryman, one need not hesitate to buy the stock wherever it can 

 be found. 



One should buy a good quality of plants, and under our con- 

 ditions it is best to buy young plants. They are cheaper and more 

 likely to grow. Forest tree seedlings one or two years old may be 

 started more readily than older trees. Apple grafts one or two years 

 old are safer to plant than older ones, and they will bear fruit just 

 as soon as the older trees. At least insist on first-class fruit trees. 

 One-year-old apple trees should be straight whips from three to four 

 feet high. Two-year-old apple trees are generally branched and 

 should have the lowest branch not over two feet from the ground 

 and should have four or more branches. 



Orders should be placed in early fall for stock to be delivered the 

 following spring. As soon as the trees arrive they should be un- 

 packed and heeled-in in some shady place, as on the north side of a 

 building, or stored in a cool cellar. They should be kept cool to 

 retard the growth of the buds and moist to prevent them from drying 

 out. In heeling-in the trees dig a trench and set the roots well down 

 in the moist soil and tramp the earth well about them. If the soil is 

 not quite damp it is best to settle it about the roots with water. If 

 the weather is drying, and especially if the trees look rather dry on 

 unpacking, it is best to bury them root and top in moist soil. If 

 everything is in readiness to plant the trees when they arrive, they 

 may be planted at once. Should they appear dry, it is best to soak 

 them in fresh water from twelve to twenty-four hours before plant- 



