68 BULLETIN 815, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



quantity should be provided so that in the spring the soil will stand 

 at least 6 to 8 inches above the land in the orchard. This will pro- 

 vide for any future settling. 



In the spring the young trees are planted in the place thus pro- 

 vided for them. Especial care must be used to provide sufScient 

 water for them at each irrigation, which is often accomplished by 

 making an irrigation furrow at the side, or frequently by making a 

 basin around each tree. Small applications of a quickly available 

 nitrogenous fertilizer, if applied to the young trees, often stimulate 

 early growth. When care is exercised in properly preparing the 

 holes for the trees, in furnishing adequate irrigation water, and in 

 distributing additional fertilizer if needed, the replanted trees in an 

 old bearing orchard will make as good a growth as if planted as solid 

 blocks of trees in a new orchard. 



THE SELECTION AND CARE OF BUD WOOD. 



Bud wood should be taken only from fruit-bearing wood on per- 

 formance-record trees. In addition to the performance records, the 

 propagator should have an intimate knowledge of the behavior of 

 the individual tree. This can be obtained only by careful studie 

 of the variety and strain which he desires to propagate. The lemons 

 which are attached to the bud sticks can be used as an indication of 

 the type of fruit which the buds on the sticks will produce. The 

 use of this type of bud wood guards against taking wood from sporting 

 or undesirable branches. 



Plate VIII shows two variations foimid on separate branches in a 

 lemon tree on which all the other fruits were of the Lisbon strain. 

 By using buds taken from sticks with the fruits attached the danger of 

 propagating these undesirable variations is eliminated. If this type 

 of bud wood is used, more buds can be cut from productive trees than 

 from unproductive ones. 



Enough experimental and practical evidence has already been collect- 

 ed in the course of these investigations to show that fruit-bearing bud 

 wood from productive trees is the most desirable kind to use for prop- 

 agation. Nursery trees from this type of wood make a very vigorous 

 growth and come into early fruiting. After the bud sticks are cut 

 the leaves are removed, as shown in figure 12, and the sticks from 

 each tree are tied in separate packages, with the number of the tree 

 marked on the end of one of the bud sticks and also on a wooden 

 or other suitable label which is tied to the bundle. In this way the 

 progeny of each parent tree can be kept separate. As soon as the 

 bud sticks are labeled they should be wrapped in moist sphagnum 

 moss or some other suitable material. If it is necessary to store the 

 bud sticks for any length of time they can be put in a cool room where 

 the temperature is about 70° F. and does not fluctuate greatly. 



