238 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 
ally make a start in spring before the ground is hard 
enough to allow of spring planting. This early start 
not only means a better growth the first season, but, 
what is more important, trees which get a very early 
hold upon the soil endure the droughts of midsummer 
much better than trees planted in spring. Planting 
is nearly always better done in the settled weather 
and workable soil of fall than in the capricious days - 
and in the hurry of springtime; and the orchardist 
is free to begin cultivation at a time when he 
would otherwise be planting his trees. Again, it is 
generally better to buy trees in the fall, when the 
stock of varieties is full and when the best trees 
are yet unsold: these trees must be kept until 
planting time, and it is about as cheap and fully 
as safe to plant them directly in the field as to heel 
them in until spring. 
In fall planting, however, it is important to insist 
that the trees shall be thoroughly well matured. In 
order to move stock quickly, it is the practice of 
some nurserymen to “strip” the trees before the 
growth is completed; that is, the leaves are stripped 
off, the growth stopped, and the trees are put upon 
the market for September deliveries. This process 
weakens the trees, and many failures in young plan- 
tations are probably attributable to this cause. Such 
trees may die outright, especially if set in the fall 
and a hard winter follows; or they may live to 
make a dwindling growth for the first few years. 
Like early-weaned calves, they lack vitality and push. 
If one were setting an orchard in the fall, he should 
