HOW TO KNOW GOOD TREES 
5 
It is easy for the experienced fruit-grower to tell good nursery stock 
when he sees it. However, those who have not had so much experience 
should read the ideas of some of the foremost horticultural authorities in 
the different parts of the country. 
Professors Paddock and Whipple, in their book, "Fruit-Growing in 
Arid Regions," emphasize, as do all authorities, the necessity of busing 
good trees. They say: "The choice of trees is a matter of primary im- 
portance, and it should receive very early consideration in planting an 
orchard. It is very often true that the man who plants an orchard has 
only a vague idea of what constitutes a first-class tree, but the man is 
to be pitied more who knows a good tree and then plants a second-class 
one because it is cheaper. Cheap trees are seldom, if ever, a bargain; 
the grower should insist on having first-class trees, and should be willing 
to pay for them. The question of where the trees are grown does not seem 
to be so important as some persons are inclined to think. Provided the 
trees reach the grower in good condition, it probably matters little where 
they are grown. Provided the trees are equally strong and clean, it seems 
to matter little whether they are budded or grafted." 
The description of a good tree by Prof. E. J. Wickson, of the Univer- 
sity of California, in "California Fruits," is a safe guide. He says: "The 
trees should have a good healthy look, with a clean bark, and of size 
enough to indicate a good, free growth. The matter of size is not the only 
point to consider, for size of the top is not so desirable as well matured 
wood and plenty of roots. On the other hand, stunted trees are not, as a 
rule, worth planting, for a stunted tree, like a stunted calf, often does not 
make a good aftergrowth. There are cases, however, in which by extra 
cultivation in good soil fine trees have been grown even from 'culls' from 
the nursery. The best rule is to select trees of good medium size, straight 
and healthy. Do not purchase trees unless the roots are healthy-looking 
and free from knots or excrescences. Gnarly and knotty roots in the 
young trees are a sure sign of insect pests or of unhealthy growth, and 
planting such trees has occasioned our orchardists immense loss. Many 
have been led into purchasing poor trees because they may be had cheap. 
A tree selected merely because it is cheap may prove to be the most 
expensive thing a man can put in the ground." 
Different varieties of trees have different habits of growth, and this 
should be borne in mind as Dr. J. C. Whitten of University of California, 
late Professor of Horticulture, University of Missouri, says in his book 
on "Apple Culture:" "Some growers select from appearances. They want 
big, thrifty-looking trees. For that reason they sometimes plant only such 
varieties as make fine growth in the nursery. Some varieties are slow 
growers; some are notably straggling and unsymmetrical; some tend to 
fork badly, while others are readily shaped well in the nursery." 
Often the nurseryman can, by special cultivation and care, develop 
well-shaped trees from varieties that are not shapely growers. However, 
such varieties as Delicious Apple will always make a heavier tree in 
the nursery row than the Jonathan, which is a rather slim grower. 
Yellow Transparent will always make an upright-growing tree. Kieffer 
Pear will always be a heavier, straighter tree than Winter Nelis. 
Professor Frank A. Waugh of Amherst, Massachusetts, has studied 
nursery conditions in different parts of the country, and is a practical 
fruit-grower. In "The American Apple Orchard," he writes: "It is the 
nurseryman's business to propagate trees, and he can do it better and 
more cheaply than the unpractioed fruit-grower. The suspicion usually 
attached to nursery-grown trees is almost always unfounded. The unso- 
