FROM SEED TO GROVE. 



29 



wet soil on the roots, withdrawing them one by one, as they are 

 set in the rows, or else place the roots in pails of water. 



In planting, press down, and back and forth a nurseryman's 

 dibble at the intersection of the rows and crosslines, put the roots 

 in the hole thus made, pack the soil down firmly around them, 

 being sure to leave no vacant spaces anywhere. 



Then mulch the plants, keep doAvn the weeds, give them a 

 sprinkling now and then of some kind of fertilizer, not too much, 

 however, for it is not wise to accustom them to too "rich living." 



For the first year after setting out, let them grow as bushy as 

 they please ; the foliage will shade the tender bark of the stem, 

 and encourage the formation of a mass of fibrous rootlets ; but 

 after the first year, it is well to prune surplus branches, leaving one 

 leader to form the stock of the future tree ; do not let the little 

 shoots that put out along the stem do any more tha.n show them- 

 selves before you pinch them oft'; keep a foot or two of the stem 

 clear of branches. 



From the second year on, you can bud your young seedlings 

 with some choice varieties, and then in from one year from the bud, 

 each little tree wdll be worth thirty cents, and in another year 

 forty or fifty cents, according to variety and growth. 



Or as seedling, two year old trees sell at twenty cents, three 

 years at thirty, four years forty, each year adding $10 per hun- 

 dred to their value. 



There is now, and will be for years to come, a brisk demand 

 for young trees, both budded and seedlings, and the thrifty far- 

 seeing settler may readily clear several hundred dollars annually 

 with the investment of no capital, save that of a little care in 

 planting seeds, and raising a nursery. 



