CHAPTER IV. 



PRUNING AND EARLY CARE OF 

 NEWLY-SET TREES. 



Take care of your orchard and your orchard will take care of 

 you. Harriet. 



The newly-set tree must quickly be pruned. As it 

 stood in the nursery row there was approximately a 

 balance between the top and the roots, the latter being 

 just about enough, under the conditions of that soil, 

 to supply what moisture and nourishment the leaves 

 and branches needed. Evidently if half of the roots 

 were suddenly removed this equilibrium would be 

 destroyed, and each leaf would show its distress at the 

 decreased sap pressure, by wilting, and the weaker 

 ones would probably die. 



Now, that is essentially the condition of the nursery 

 tree ; no matter how carefully it was dug, many of its 

 fine feeding roots are sure to have broken off, or have 

 dried up; and until it can re-establish its relations 

 with the soil, and put out new roots to take the place 

 of those destroyed, it is totally unable to support and 

 nourish the original amount of top. The fine root- 

 hairs, which appear like fuzz near the tips of the 

 smaller roots, and do most of the absorbing for the 

 roots, dry out almost instantly on exposure to air, and 

 are practically all destroyed in transplanting. It 

 takes some time to form these anew, and if the whole 

 top is left to " leaf out " during the process, the rapid 

 (37) 



