CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



side by side, removing all the packing material carefully from the 

 roots, laying the tops all one way, and then shovel the earth over 

 the roots until they are well covered with loose soil, and be sure 

 that the soil sifts down well between the roots. Ordinarily this 

 treatment will hold the trees in good condition for a considerable 

 time if need be. If, however, they have become dry before arrival, 

 the bundles should be thoroughly drenched with water before heel- 

 ing in. In extreme cases, where the top shows drying by shrinking 

 and shriveling of the bark, the trees should be drenched, and then 

 they should be covered root and top with earth for two or three 

 days, when, if the trouble has not gone too far, the bark will recover 

 its smoothness and plumpness. It should be very seldom, however, 

 that a lot of trees is allowed to get into such condition by neglect. 

 In heeling in it will be found a great convenience and a safeguard 

 against possible confusion by loss of labels, if each variety as taken 

 from the packing is placed by itself in the trench. Nurserymen gen- 

 erally attach a label to each small bundle, if the trees are of several 

 varieties, and the novice is apt to lose all track of his sorts when 

 heeling in the trench, unless he heels in each kind by itself, leaving 

 the nurseryman's label to mark the whole lot of each kind. 



If the planter has his own ideas of after-treatment of his trees, 

 or if he is a beginner and desires to adopt the suggestions which 

 will be laid down in this book, he should insist that the nursery- 

 man shall not trim up nor cut back the trees before packing. Have 

 the trees packed just as they are lifted from the ground. The work 

 toward the shaping of the tree should be done after it is planted in 

 the orchard. 



PLANTING THE ORCHARD 



The young deciduous tree should be dormant before being moved 

 from the nursery row, and if its leaves have fallen it is good evidence 

 of its dormancy. Such, however, is the effect of the climate of Cal- 

 ifornia, more apparent in some years than others, and with some 

 kinds of fruit than others, that the young tree retains a small part 

 of its activity very late, and in such cases it is not practicable to wait 

 for the complete falling of the leaves. Sometimes for convenience 

 of work, the trees have to be lifted before this takes place, and in 

 such case it is desirable to remove the leaves to lessen evaporation. 

 It is probably better to transplant in this condition for the sake of 

 early setting in its new position than to wait for all the leaves to 

 drop. This statement is not intended to include nursery stock which 

 is kept growing late in the season by late irrigation. Such trees are 

 not always desirable. 



Time to Plant. The best time to plant deciduous trees in Cali- 

 fornia is soon after the early rains have deeply moistened the 



