23 SnCCESSFUL FKUIT CULTUEB ., 



LABELING 



All trees should be permanently labeled before 

 planting, and a plan be made of the orchard where 

 every tree is located and name given, so that if a label 

 becomes lost or disfigured, no difficulty will be found 

 in looking up the proper name. The most permanent 

 label, the most easily attached to the tree, and at the 

 same time the cheapest, consists of a triangular zinc 

 strip one-half to three-fourths inch wide at one end, 

 tapering to a point at the other, and five to six inches 

 long, as seen in Figure 11. This should be slightly 

 corroded and the name written with a medium-hard 

 lead pencil. If the zinc is just right and the name 

 is written in a broad hand, it will be distinctly visible 

 for a lifetime. It is fastened to the tree by winding 



Pig. 1 1— Zinc Label 



the small end about a small branch, and as the branch 

 grows the label is uncoiled and does not cut into the 

 tree. A very thin label of this form is made of copper, 

 the name being pressed into it by a stylo, or a very 

 hard pencil. The names on the copper label are as 

 permanent as on those of zinc, but are not so legible nor 

 the label so easily obtained. 



CULTIVATION 



The effect of stirring the soil after planting trees 

 is: first, to prevent the escape of moisture by forming 

 a layer of loose, non-conducting soil on the surface ; and 

 second, hastening the preparation of plant food by the 



