FRUIT TREES. Chap. I. 13 



dwarf trees. Standard & half-standard trees are formed from shoots put out by the grafts, 

 whereas the main part of other trees should develop from the stock. 



Stocks on which a bud graft has failed should be cut back below the spot where 

 the graft had been, so that new wood will grow on which the graft will succeed better 

 than it had on the old. But stocks that had been grafted for dwarf trees, if they tend to 

 grow up straight, can be preserved intact & set up for grafts of standard & half-standard 

 trees. 



Nurseries are tilled in January and February & are given two or three second 

 hoeings during the summer to keep the soil loose and to get rid of all the weeds. But in 

 warm climates, & where the trunks of stocks are infested with vine grubs & other bud- 

 destroying insects that sometimes show up from the beginning of February on. it's better 

 to postpone the tillage & to not eliminate the weeds until the buds on the trees have 

 developed. That way the insects will find food on the ground and won't climb up the trees 

 to devour the buds, especially those on grafts. Only very light tilling and second hoeing 

 should be done on new seedbeds. 



Although nurseries require strenuous work only for tilling, they do need almost 

 constant care. The ways to assure their success are to protect them from destructive 

 foraging by game and wild animals, to protect the seedlings of Doucin & Paradise apple 

 trees from field mice that gnaw their roots, fasten the first shoots of grafts to stakes when 

 they don't grow up straight, and to prune, cut back, and nip buds, and to clean off moss & 

 insects. Maintain and strengthen some of them, correct the defects in others, and 

 constantly keep a lookout for the welfare of these young pupils. 



