THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



123 



161-162. Peach tree before and after pruning. 

 Peaches should usually be one year old from the bud 

 and no older when planted in the home orchard. 

 Some people leave short branches, but usually it is 

 better to trim the peach or apricot tree to a whip 



the trees, vines and bushes that are to be the 

 parents of the plants in the home fruit 

 garden as carefully as you would select the 

 head of a herd, and for the same reason. 

 Insist that your nurseryman furnish you with 

 stock propagated from parents that represent 

 the best types of the several varieties. If 

 you do not expect to plant the fruit garden 

 for one or two years, it will pay to visit your 

 friends during the fruiting season, and ar- 

 range to take cions, cuttings, runners or 

 suckers,- as the case may be, from the trees 

 or plants that especially please you. The 

 nurseryman will be glad to take the cions or 

 bud-sticks and propagate trees from them 

 for you. 



Many painstaking home orchardists now 

 practise planting vigorous-growing trees for 

 stocks, and top-work 

 these with the cions 

 that they have selected. 

 Too much stress can 

 hardly be laid upon the 

 importance of this 

 selection. It is even 

 more important in the 

 home orchard than in 

 the commercial orchard. 

 When a man wishes to 

 increase the value of his 

 live stock, he breeds 

 from his best animals. 

 The same principle may 

 be applied to the fruit 

 garden with equal profit. 



LOOK OUT FOR HEALTHY 



Be careful not to in- 

 troduce diseases and in- 

 sect pests on the stock. 

 Most of the dissemina- 

 tion of fruit pests over 

 the country is through 

 infested stock. The 

 nursery offers a very 

 favorable chance for 

 the spread of these 

 troubles. Many home 

 fruit gardens have 



16 3. A planting- 

 board. It can be made 

 in a few minutes, and 

 is indispensable in 

 •,'Iantir.g even a few 

 trees if stakes have 

 been set where the 

 trees should go. 

 ^.iolher style has 

 poles in two ends, but 

 this is better 



been ruined or seriously injured by pests 

 introduced in this way. A few months 

 ago, I was in a New York City back yard 

 which contained ten fruit trees, the pride and 

 delight of the owner until this year. Three 

 years ago he planted a young tree, which 

 later was found to have been infested with 

 San Jose scale. In three years the pest has 

 practically ruined all the trees in this yard 

 This was a dear price to pay for ignorance. 

 Require the nurseryman of whom you 

 purchase trees or plants to fumigate them 

 before shipment. This ought to destroy 

 all insect life. Examine them carefully on 

 arrival. Look for the scurfy coating of scale 

 insects on the branches ; for borers, low down 

 in the stem; for root-knots and crown-galls; 

 for blighted tips in pear trees. Discard and 

 burn at once any fruit trees or raspberry 

 plants with large knots and galls on the roots. 

 If you are suspicious of the plants, it is always 

 wise not to plant them until certain they are 

 free from pests. The home fruit - grower 

 cannot afford to be careless about this. 



YOUNG STOCK THE BEST 



Young stock is generally the most satis- 

 factory. Many home fruit - growers, espe- 

 cially those with small suburban lots, make 

 the mistake of planting trees, vines and 

 plants that are too old. In some special 

 cases, trees four to six years old, that are 

 desired for "immediate fruiting," give 

 fairly satisfactory results; but usually, ac- 

 cording to my observation, they are so large 

 and their root system is so limited in propor- 

 tion to the top, that they do not recover 

 quickly from the effect of transplanting and 

 so come into bearing but slightly earlier 

 than younger trees planted at the same time. 

 Moreover, they seldom become as vigorous 

 as the younger trees, that usually outstrip 

 them in time. The general evidence is that 

 it pays to plant young trees even when one 

 is in a hurry for fruit. 



In many parts of the West, and in some 

 parts of the East, one-year-old trees of all 

 fruits are planted. The advantages of 

 planting one-year-old trees are, that a 

 larger proportion of roots is secured in 

 transplanting; that the grower can start out 

 the scaffold limbs where he chooses; whereas 

 in the two-year-old tree the scaffold limbs 

 are already formed (see Fig. 155); that the 

 tops of the trees are less likely to be infested 

 because they have only been in the nursery 

 one season. In the home orchard, older 

 trees are usually more desirable. 



In most parts of the East, fruits are com- 

 monly set at the following ages : Apples and 

 pears two to three years; plums and cherries 

 two years; peaches and apricots one year; 

 quinces two to three years; grapes one to 

 three years from the cutting; gooseberries 

 and currants two years from the cutting; 

 raspberries and blackberries, stock not more 

 than one year old; strawberries, from new 

 plants only. 



There seems to be practically no difference 

 in the value of piece-root grafted, whole- 

 root grafted, and budded trees, provided they 

 are of the same size and vigor, but this has 

 always been a subject for incessant debate. 



v -> -;m--- •■■■ ■ - ... i.r* \-;-?i' • - .... _j 



164. Planting a tree with the aid of a planting- 

 board. This hole is two and one-half feet wide, two 

 feel deep, and is none too large. Being planted in a 

 very windy section, the tree is leaned slightly in the 

 direction of the prevailing wind. This is not usually 

 necessary. The notch is exactly where the stake 

 was before the hole was dug 



SPRING VS. FALL PLANTING 



Usually it is best to plant the home fruit 

 garden in the spring. Under some condi- 

 tions fall planting is equally successful, but 

 there is a greater element of risk. If a 

 severe winter follows, the trees and plants are 

 more likely to be injured than if a severe 

 summer drought follows spring planting. 

 The hardier fruits, apples and pears, are 

 more successful when planted in the fall than, 

 the more tender fruits, as peaches and plums. 

 Never plant trees in the fall on land that is 

 likely to be quite wet during the winter; 

 fall planting must be confined to well- 

 drained soils. Plant only well-matured trees 

 in the fall, not "stripped," unmatured trees. 

 Plant early enough so that the trees will make 

 roots before the ground freezes — usually 

 not later than the middle of October. All 

 things considered, spring planting is pref- 

 erable, since it is safer. An exception to 

 this is the planting of pot-grown straw- 

 berries in the fall, from which it is desired 

 to secure fruit the following year. 



If 'the land that 

 you propose to use 

 for a fruit garden 



165-166. Currants before and after pruning. One- 

 year- and two-year-old plants of White Dutch currant. 

 It is easy to see the cutting from which the plant 

 came. Two-year-old plants of currants and goose- 

 berries are usually best. Gooseberries are pruned 

 the same way as currants 



