166 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



comeliness. Why may not a nurseryman give a list 

 of varieties that are comely growers, and another list of 

 those that are wayward growers? 



It is usually best to buy first-class trees, — those of 

 medium size for their age, vigorous, shapely in body and 

 head, stocky, with clean trunks and abundant roots, not 

 stunted, that are free of borers and other injuries, and, in 

 the case of budded trees, those in which the union is very 

 near the ground; and the tree should show the natural 

 characteristics of the variety. It is important, also, that 

 trees of apples and pears have several good limbs that do 

 not arise close to each other; for the main scaffold limbs 

 of a mature tree should be some distance apart to avoid 

 splitting. In dwarf pears, especially, it is important that 

 the stock, to be first-class, shall be budded very low. It 

 is often thought that large size is of itself a great merit in 

 a nursery tree, but this is an error. Vigor, cleanness, 

 stockiness, firm hard growth, are much more important 

 than bigness. The toughest and best trees are usually 

 those of medium size. The very small extra expense 

 incurred in buying the best trees is commonly a good 

 investment. It is often said that second-class trees may 

 be chosen with good roots and that the grower can 

 form the top to suit himself. This requires more time 

 and care, and is very doubtful economy; and, moreover, 

 one is likely to lose in uniformity, which is an important 

 feature in an orchard. In an acre of apple trees, the differ- 

 ence in cost of first-class over second-class trees may not 

 be more than a dollar or two, but the difference in results 

 is often great. 



The age of plants at purchase must be governed by 

 circumstances and by species. The general tendency is 

 to buy trees too old rather than too young. When varie- 



