436 NUTS. 



they are to remain. The length of the tap-root of a one- oi 

 two-year-old hickory or pecan is something wonderful, and 

 readily accounts for the difficulty of successfully transplanting 

 them, either from the fields or nursery. It is commonly two 

 or three times as long as the shoot above ground, and as re- 

 ceived from nurserymen it is more often as bare of fine roots 

 as a parsnip. It is little wonder then that sometimes it stands 

 dormant and seemingly dead through the whole of the first 

 season, to start slowly into growth the second summer after 

 transplanting. Rich soil, good cultivation, with shortening of 

 the tap-root as above directed, should give a good growth of 

 fibrous roots while in the nursery rows, and conduce to success- 

 ful subsequent transplanting. 



This method will usually produce strong, vigorous young 

 trees. The drawback to this method is that nut trees do not 

 come absolutely true from seed; at the same time a good 

 stock is likely to reproduce most of its good qualities. 



Mr. E. H. Van Deman, late U. S. Pomologist, says : " The 

 variation of seedlings is so great that, with nuts as well as 

 other fruits, the only sure method of reproducing a variety is 

 by budding or grafting. " This is a more difficult operation 

 with nut-bearing trees than with most others. However, it 

 can be done, and with each year we are learning better how 

 to do it. 



At present the best-known method is to work upon one- or 

 two-year-old seedlings, either in nursery rows or where seeds 

 have been planted in the orchard. They should be cut some 

 two or more inches below the surface of the ground, or just 

 above where the roots begin to swell, and a scion inserted 

 not less than five or six inches long and having a terminal bud 

 if possible. The " tongue" graft is the best for small stocks. 

 No wax is needed for this underground grafting, but some 

 bandage should be used to hold the parts firmly in place. 

 Cotton strips dipped in hot grafting-wax and then dried are 

 very good. A ball of wet clay may be pressed about the 

 wound and the earth packed to near the top of the scion to stop 

 evaporation. A very important point, and one that must not 

 be overlooked, is that the scions should be cut early, before 

 any signs of starting, and put in some cool, damp place until 

 after the stocks have begun to grow. In the sawdust of an 



