27 



little extra for this stock, but remember, the first cost is the best 

 money you will ever spend. Get good trees that have made enough 

 growth in one season to convince you that these trees have estab- 

 lished themselves well upon their own roots. Don't select the largest 

 tree, not the smallest, but the average sized one. Let us say about 

 one-half to five-eighth inch trees. And in regard to this nursery 

 tree, insist that the tree is allowed to ripen its wood well. 



Planting time I believe should be in the spring before the 

 growth starts in nature around us ; use nature as a guide. The 

 tree roots should be pruned to the extent that all broken and 

 mashed or dried-out roots are not put into the ground. Very often 

 together with the pruning, that lifting the tree from the nursery 

 does, and the pruning away of injured roots, one will find that 

 most of the fibrous roots that you were so proud of when you 

 saw the tree lifted, will have disappeared. Don't discard it, for the 

 tree will come along all right. Plant the tree in the ground about 

 the depth or a little lower than it stood in the nursery, which will 

 be indicated by the different color of the bark above the ground and 

 that below. In setting the tree, firm the soil well around the roots 

 — get down on all fours if necessary and firm the soil, by hand, 

 allowing no air pockets to form under the roots. And don't be all 

 day at this planting job either. Roots are not meant to be ex- 

 posed to sunlight and air, so don't try to start something new with 

 nature. She will not stand for such tricks of mankind. 



Now, as to planting distances, I have noted that at bearing age 

 the trees fill up the surface of an acre very completely when planted 

 twenty feet each way, which will give about one hundred and 

 twenty-four trees per acre, or planted on the corners of a twenty 

 foot square, which will give you one hundred and eight trees to the 

 acre. 



The pruning of the young peach is very important and should 

 be done at once after planting in the Spring. If the young tree is 

 not too large and has not branched too much, the cutting back to a 

 wisp or single stock, will be about right, since you take away with 

 this cutting all possible chance of the skeleton branches or head 

 of the tree from coming out any higher than this cut which gen- 

 erally is made about eighteen inches to two feet above the surface 

 of the ground. Some cutting-back or pruning is necessary to even 

 up the unbalanced condition of the tree-top with its root system, 

 which has been badly disturbed by the loss of roots in the process 

 of lifting, and then the root pruning. Remember right here that 

 nature balanced the roots with tree tops, and we cannot unbalance 

 nature without something unusual following. In this pruning, plant 

 both feet solid on two sides of the tree so your weight will help 

 hold the tree solid in the ground and make your cuts clean with 

 a good sharp big handled knife. If the tree is large and has made 

 some branch growth below the two foot height save them, at least, 

 the ones you want and cut back the branches to about half their 

 length and to an outside bud. Remember, in selecting skeleton 



