1534 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



of the old orchard, breaking the land, 

 turning under a heavy coating of manure 

 and growing some cover crop for a year 

 or two. By this process the land will 

 be rejuvenated and many of the insect 

 pests will be exterminated 



In a few eases orchards have been 

 grown on old sites and good trees have 

 grown in places where old trees have 

 stood. But this is the exception and 

 not the rule. 



Selection of Trees 



On this question we would place first 

 in importance the selection of healthy, 

 strong, vigorous growers. We quote 

 again from Prof. Erwin P. Smith, who 

 has had a wide range of experience and 

 observation : 



"The selection of the trees themselves 

 is a matter of great importance. It is 

 not necessary that they should be very 

 large, but the trunks should be smooth 

 and well grown and the roots abundant 

 and as little injured as possible. To se- 

 cure these desirable qualities it is well 

 in ordering trees to have a written agree- 

 ment touching the points in question, so 

 that inferior trees may be rejected. The 

 roots should not be close pruned except 

 for the removal of mangled or splintered 

 portions, and the holes in which they 

 are set should be of such dimensions that 

 it will not be necessary to twist and 

 cramp them in planting. Care should be 

 taken that they are not set shallow — 

 that is, on top of the earth — nor buried 

 much deeper than they stood in the orig- 

 inal nursery. They should not be set 

 into hard earth, nor should the holes 

 be filled with stones and rubbish, but 

 with mellow earth well tramped down. 

 Experience in the United States has 

 shown pretty clearly that peach trees in 

 open orchards do best on peach roots; 

 but if the situation is low and the soil 

 rather heavy, plum roots* may be substi- 

 tuted, in which latter case the trees 

 should then be closer together, say 15 by 

 15 or 15 by 12 feet In the United States 



*• In selecting plum stocks care slionW be nsed 

 to secure a variety which makes a s:ood and 

 lasting union. The mananna should not be 

 used for a stock. 



peaches are not grown to any extent on 

 espaliers or in houses. 



"Judgment differs as to whether it is 

 best to set June-budded or August-budded 

 trees. Generally it will be found con- 

 venient to buy the trees of some reliable 

 nurseryman, and such are usually propa- 

 gated from buds set in August; but if 

 the planter prefers to grow his own trees, 

 and time is a matter of consequence, the 

 seedlings should be budded in June so as 

 to obtain a grafted top the same year. 



*Tn the selection of trees special atten- 

 tion should be paid to secure those which 

 are free from fungi and injurious insects. 

 The greatest care should be taken that 

 the trees are not infested by borers, scale 

 insects, or root aphides. Unfortunately 

 trees of this character are sometimes 

 sent out, and orchards planted from them 

 are sure to give trouble. In general it 

 is best to avoid trees grown in regions 

 much subject to peach yellows and peach 

 rosette. In buying trees the planter will 

 do well to deal only with nurserymen 

 who have by honest dealing gained a well- 

 merited reputation. It is better to pay 

 two prices for trees of an assured char- 

 acter than to take as a gift trees from 

 doubtful sources. Gtr^t^-ville Lowther 



Grade and Qualify of Trees to Buy 



Trees are graded by nurserymen in 

 two ways: by height and by caliper. The 

 height is measured from the point where 

 the tree was budded and the caliper is 

 the diameter of the trunk three inches 

 "above the bud." The latter is the more 

 accurate and better system of grading. 



The following is an example of a sys- 

 tem of grading according to height prac- 

 ticed by a prominent grower of peach 

 trees : 



First class , H to C> feet 



First class, medium 4 to 5 '* 



First class, li^ht 8 to 4 " 



First class, branched 2 to H *' 



First class, whips light 1 to 2 " 



•Tune buds 1 2 to 1 8 inches 



If one knows the weight and quality 

 of the trees that a certain nurseryman 

 produces each year, this system of grad- 

 ing is satisfactory; but trees from various 

 nurserymen graded according to height 

 often vary to a great degree in caliper 

 and weight. 



