F. & F. NURSERY CATALOGUE 



1 



PLANTING SUGGESTIONS 



E EXERCISE the greatest care to produce only high-grade nursery stock, elimi- 

 nating every year such trees and plants as we find defective or diseased. We take 

 all possible care in the digging, packing, shipping and delivery of our products, 

 thus insuring to the planter the best results obtainable. 



We do not guarantee our plants to grow under all conditions and we do not re- 

 place stock that perishes on the customer's premises, unless it can be plainly 

 proven that such loss or failure is directly due to negligence or carelessness on 

 the part of our employees. 



We have frequently seen stock planted on adjacent places practically in the 

 same kind of soil, under apparently like conditions, but the care and treat- 

 ment entirely different, the one an entire success, the other almost a complete failure, and the 

 nurseryman commended or censured accordingly. 



If the following instructions are strictly adhered to there will be little trouble experienced 

 in making our stock grow, unless you are handling some of the species that are known to be 

 extremely difficult to move, such as Sweet Cherry, Birch, Beech, Tulip Tree, Sweet Gum and a 

 number of others. 



Success in planting depends largely upon the treatment given trees and hardy plants when 

 received. At once on arrival the stock should be planted; or the roots protected from the sun 

 or drying wind by moist earth covering or by heeling-in in trenches of good mellow soil. If 

 materia] be received in cold weather or the stock frozen, the cases or bales should be placed in a 

 cool, moist cellar until the frost is removed. The planting can then be done without the slightest 

 injury. In heeling-in any trees or shrubs care should be exercised to have all the roots covered 

 and in direct contact with the soil. 



While for permanent planting all trees and hardy plants should be set at about the same 

 depth as they have grown in the nursery, in heeling-in they should be set deep in the trenches. A 

 slanting position gives better protection. The roots should always be thoroughly wet before 

 planting. This causes the earth to adhere more closely. 



It is of the utmost importance that good, well drained, fertile soil be used in planting, and 

 the more the better. After the roots are spread out in their natural positions the earth should 

 be pressed down firmly, so that both the fibers and larger roots be thus held in proper place. This 

 method is sometimes referred to as " the use of the heel in planting." Perhaps more failures 

 in transplanting result from the lack of compliance with these conditions than from any other 

 cause. 



Mulching the surface over the roots of newly planted trees, etc., is always desirable. In dry 

 soils in some instances this is almost indispensable for best results. Freshly cut grass, partially 

 rotted manure, or straw, may be used for this purpose. 



We do not approve of indiscriminate and extensive pruning at any period of a tree's life, 

 but if the roots are much shortened some pruning of the top is necessary to maintain a balance. 

 Beech, Oak, Sweet Gum, Mulberry and Tulip Trees ought to be shortened in very severely. 



Cut to the trunk or a bud always, that you may not later have unsightly and dead spurs on 

 the tree that delay the process of healing. 



Planting Evergreens is more difficult than planting deciduous trees, particularly if large, 

 and extra care must be taken to keep the roots from becoming dry. Chances of success are much 

 greater with small and medium-sized trees, and choice and rare sorts should be moved with a 

 ball of earth attached when possible. The safety of this practice very greatly counterbalances 

 increased cost, and we strongly urge patrons to adopt it. A charge for such additional labor must 

 be made, but it will be reasonable. 



