The Stripping of Trees 175 



to plant them directly in the field as to heel them in until 

 spring. 



In fall planting, however, the trees must 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 taken off, 

 the growth stopped, and the trees are put on the market 

 for September deliveries. This process weakens the trees, 

 and many failures in young plantations 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 autumn, 

 one should place the order for trees in August or Septem- 

 ber, if possible, with the express stipulation that the trees 

 should stand in the nursery-rows until the leaves begin 

 to die and fall. In the meantime, the land should be fitted 

 and the holes dug, so that when the trees arrive they may 

 go directly into their places without delay or without the 

 expense of heeling them in. Trees are mature enough to 

 dig late in September or early in October in the north- 

 ern states, depending on the season, soil and variety. 

 When the tree is fully mature, some of the leaves will 

 still hold on the vigorous shoots, and these are stripped 

 off; but this stripping does no harm, for the young growth 

 is then mature and it has a thick, strong, brown appear- 

 ance very different from the slender, soft and green 

 branches of early-stripped trees. 



There are many good planters who consider fall plant- 

 ing hazardous, especially in the North. It is true that 

 unless the conditions are right, spring planting is the 

 safer course; and farmers who have many fall crops to 



