84 



ANNUAL REPORT 1920 AND 1921 



The complete stubbing off should be left until the following year, when the 

 bud contains a considerable amount of hard wood. 



Trees being top worked must be kept in the most vigorous condition to 

 insure the success of the work. 



Where the buds have failed to take and the tree has been severely cut back 

 and kept so during an entire season it will be necessary to allow the tree to fully 

 recover before being budded again or the life of such tree will be seriously 

 endangered. 



3. TRANSPLANTING YOUNG AVOCADO TREES FROM THE NURSERY INTO THE 

 ORCHARD OR BACK YARDS 



WM. HERTRICH 



By far the best time to transplant young avocado trees from the nursery is 

 in the Spring, as soon as the ground is warm enough to encourage root action, 

 regardless of whether the stock has been previously established in cans, boxes 

 or taken from the nursery row. Established plants, which have been kept in 

 the open for some time before planting, will require no special protection, but 

 plants taken from a lath-house or other shaded places ought to be protected for 

 the first few months from the strong rays of the sun ; if no shade is provided and a 

 few warm days should follow the planting, the tender foliage as well as some of 

 the soft shoots will become sunburned and cause a severe check to the young 

 tree in establishing itself in its new place. 



The holes for the trees should be dug large enough to provide plenty of 

 loose soil for the young roots for the first couple of years. In ordinary soil a 

 hole three feet square by three feet deep should be ample; if any layers of hard- 

 pan are present within this distance or below the three foot level they should 

 be broken up, which can be done easily by the use of powder. 



When planting the trees the holes should be back-filled from the surround- 

 ing rich top soil, if such is present; the poorer soil from the bottom of the hole 

 can be utilized in making the rim of the basin. If a hole three feet deep is used, 

 the required back-fill should be firmed down well, otherwise the settling of the 

 ground would result in having the tree too low and in most cases out of plumb. 



The string with which the sack is held above the ball should be cut and the 

 flaps of the sack laid down so that they will decay in a short time. Immediately 

 after planting, a good irrigation is necessary. At all times be positive that the 

 ball of the tree, before it is placed in the hole, is not in a dry condition, especially 

 so, when the earth of the same is of a heavy clay soil, which gets hard when dry 

 and does not take in water as freely as it should. 



In light open soil with plenty of drainage there is no danger of over-water- 

 ing young trees, but in heavy clay or when hard-pan is present it is necessary to 

 be cautious as over irrigating would cause sour soil, which would prevent the 

 young roots from establishing themselves, as well as be injurious to the old roots, 

 causing a sickly yellow looking tree which in the end would probably die. 



In making basins for irrigating, it is a mistake to form the funnel or crater- 

 like affair with its deepest point around the trunk of the tree. It is far better lk) 

 make a circular ditch around the tree, leaving six inches of high ground next 

 to the trunk. All basins should have some kind of a mulch covering to keep 

 the moisture from evaporating as well as to keep the soil from baking hard. 



