382 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



they may remain over one year in the ground after they are planted 

 before they germinate. 



If small, well-graded, "natural " pits are used, running 6,000 to 

 7,000 to the bushel, 7 or 8 bushels will be required to plant an acre ; 

 the larger pits from " budded " varieties secured from canneries 

 may run as low as 2,200 to 2,500 to the bushel, requiring a cor- 

 respondingly larger quantity to plant a given area. Planted in 

 well-prepared fertile soil, most of the seedlings should attain a 

 diameter of about one-fourth inch by midsummer; that is, a size 

 large enough to bud, this operation being performed principally 

 from the last of July to early September. (The details of shield- 

 budding are described on pages 122-133.) The buds placed on the 

 stocks in this period remain dormant until the following spring, 

 when, with the return of warm weather, they should grow rapidly. 

 After one season's growth in the nursery they are termed " one- 

 year-olds " and are ready for sale and for permanent planting. 

 Peach trees older than one year should rarely if ever be planted, 

 although "June buds " or "summer buds," which have roots 

 one year younger than one-year-old trees, find favor with some 

 growers in the South. These are produced in regions where a very 

 early opening of the growing season in spring produces seedlings 

 large enough to bud by June of the same year. If buds are inserted 

 on such stocks in June or early July, they start into growth at once 

 instead of remaining dormant until the following spring, and by 

 late fall they develop into well-branched trees 2 to 3 feet high. Such 

 trees give excellent results for orchard planting in the experience of 

 many southern growers. 



As soon as the bud has " taken, "that is, become attached to the 

 stock, which will be within ten days to two weeks after it is inserted, 

 the raffia or string with which the stock was wrapped should be cut 

 to prevent it girdling the stock and choking the bud. And further, 

 as soon as the bud has grown 3 or 4 inches in midsummer in case 

 of June budding, in early spring in case of later budding the 

 top of the seedling stock above the bud should be cut away close 

 enough to the bud so that the wound will heal over readily as the 

 tree grows. 



In Florida, the May and June budding of peaches is successful 

 only when the leaves are left on the stock except that enough to 

 allow the bud to be inserted may be removed. Leaves must be 

 left above and below the point of insertion. As soon as the bud 

 is inserted, the top of the stock is cut back partly, and this cutting 



