SUCCESS IN FRUIT-GROWING 
A few fruit trees. Plums, Peaches, Pears, Cherries, Apples, and small fruits in a garden, or 
even a back yard, pay for themselves a hundred times over. 
What Age of Trees to Buy. — The 
older the tree when it is dug in the nur- 
sery for transplanting, the greater the 
shock it suffers. Most nurseries ofler no 
fruit trees over two years old. That is, 
the top and root have grown two seasons 
in the nursery, and the root has grown 
one season previously as a seedling. 
Some kinds are seldom grown more 
than one year in the nursery. For in- 
stance, the peach is a fast-growing tree, 
and at the end of two growing seasons 
would be so large that it would not 
stand the shock of transplanting satis- 
factorily, the nurseryman would have 
to charge more, and the cost of trans- 
portation and setting would be higher. 
With apple trees, the majority of 
experienced planters now prefer one- 
year-olds. Where the soil is thin or the 
growing season is short, the two-year 
is often preferred. 
With favorable soil and climate and 
with proper culture the budded apple 
attains marketable size in one year, 
and the root system is as old as that of 
the graft at the end of its second year 
in the nursery. 
"The advantages of the one-year 
apple trees are that they usually cost 
less, they are more readily shipped and 
transplanted. Those fit for sale are sure 
to be strong growers and their heads 
can be formed as desired." — Bulletin 
No. 128, Pennsylvania State College, 
Agricultural Experiment Station. 
The author of "Fruits for Pennsyl- 
vania," a 295-page bulletin. No. 152, 
issued by the State Department of Agri- 
culture says: 
"When you get a tree 4 to 6 feet 
from the bud (one-year bud, two-year 
stock), you have the very cream out 
of the nursery. Anyone familiar with 
nursery business knows that compara- 
tively few attain that size at that age, 
the larger proportions being from 1 to 2 
feet. But when you get trees up to 4, 
5, or 6 feet, you have a tree with strong 
individuality, a strong root system, one 
that when properly pruned in root and 
top scarcely feels the effects of trans- 
planting; and I will guarantee they will 
come into profitable bearing sooner, 
and that in the first ten years of their 
existence in the orchard they will pro- 
duce SO per cent more fruit than the 
older trees." 
When Should Trees Bear. — Some- 
times we are asked to supply "bearing- 
age" or "ready-to-bcar" fruit trees. If 
one could find good 3, 4, or 5-year-old 
trees and could transplant dirt and all, 
possibly they would bear within a year 
or two. The time it takes a tree to come 
into bearing dates from the time it was 
transplanted from the nursery and de- 
pends upon many factors: securing 
first-class nursery stock in good condi- 
tion, proper preparation of the ground, 
careful setting out, favorable soil, 
climate and weather conditions, proper 
care, etc. Some varieties will not bear 
fruit unless other varieties are planted 
near them for cross-pollination. Ever- 
bearing strawberries set out in the spring 
will produce the same year. Standard 
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, 
dewberries, gooseberries, and grapes 
begin to bear the second or third year; 
peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, the 
third year. Some varieties of pear and 
apple bear comparatively young — about 
the fourth year. Many of our customers 
have picked apples the second season. 
That is not altogether desirable — since 
a young tree can hardly be expected to 
grow fruit and make a desirable growth 
too. 
A block of one-year-old Peach trees. 
