138 
of the two-year-old, but on the whole 
the two-year-old is better for this cli- 
mate.”’ 
It will be seen from these recommen- 
dations that there is considerable differ- 
ences of opinion as to the age at which 
trees should be planted. This difference 
doubtless grows out of the experiences 
or orchardists and nurserymen in the dif- 
ferent sections. It would seem that in 
the South, or in sections where the trees 
make rapid growth, that one-year-old 
stock is preferable; while in the northern 
sections, two-year-old stock is mostly 
used. The Pacific Northwest being an 
irrigated section, and the climate more 
or less modified by the coast winds, en- 
ables the stock to make rapid growth, and 
one-year-old stock is almost universally 
used. 
GRANVILLE LOWTHER 
How to Determine Age of Trees 
It is very easy to determine the age 
of a nursery tree. The age is counted 
from the budding or grafting. The end 
of each year’s growth is marked by a 
row of rings or scars around the trunk 
and branches. To tell the age of a tree, 
begin at the tip of a branch and follow 
back to the base of the tree counting the 
scale rings. The tree will be one year 
older than the number of rings. It is 
best to use the branches at the top. In 
trees on which the tips of the branches 
have been injured or removed, during the 
summer, some difficulty may be experi- 
enced in determining definitely, but this 
method will serve in most cases with- 
out difficulty. 
The best age at which to plant trees is 
a much mooted question. The present 
tendency is to plant trees which are too 
old. The upper limit of age for an apple 
tree is three years. ''wo-year-old trees 
will be found better than older ones in 
most cases. The present demand for 
large trees causes the nurseryman to 
prune off the side branches along the 
first and second year’s growth, thus in 
a great many instances spoiling the 
Shape of the tree or at least making it 
necessary to form the head too high. 
Another factor which tends to give in- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
ferior trees where they remain long in 
the nursery 1s the fact that they are 
grown very close together, and this forces 
the branches to grow more in one plane 
which results in lop-sided trees The 
shorter the period the tree passes in the 
nursery, the more likely it 1s to be a goog 
tree when the grower receives it. 
It 1s true the younger trees tequire 
longer to come into bearing after being 
planted, but the orchardist can better 
afford to give them one or two addi- 
tional years’ attention and have the op- 
portunity to prune and care for them go 
they will make first-class trees, than to 
let the nurseryman grow them for the 
additional length of time, and have to 
give the same amount of care later on in 
trying to change a spoiled tree into a 
passably good one. It is not the inten- 
tion to convey the idea that no good three- 
year-old trees are produced in the nur- 
sery, but with the present systems and 
practices the chances are very much 
against it. 
Two years is a compromise age, as the 
two-year-old is less likely to have been 
spoiled in the nursery than an older tree, 
and it saves one year in the orchard 
before bearing. If, however, suitable 
two-year-old trees cannot be secured, by 
all means use the younger trees. 
Best Height of Head—By “height 
of head” is meant the distance be- 
tween the base of the tree, after 
planting, and the height at which the 
main branches grow out Formerly trees 
with branches lower than five or six feet 
were not desired because when lower they 
were supposed to be very difficult to work 
under. Today no good commercial or- 
chardist would think of planting trees 
with such high heads. 
Economics in Low Headsng—There 
are numerous reasons why a low: 
headed is preferable to a high-headed 
tree, but the chief one is because it facil- 
itates orchard operations. In this day 
of pruning and spraying and high prices 
for labor in picking the orchardist does 
not want a tree so headed that it will 
require a ladder to reach the lowest 
branches producing fruit. The old objec- 
tion that the lower branches of low- 
