126 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
When the line is stretched, count the num¬ 
ber of pins to the other end of the orchard, 
but put in no stakes at the pins, except at the 
last one. Go back to the other corner, and 
measure that side likewise. Now stretch the 
line across the other end of the rows, and by 
means of the pins get the proper distances 
apart. If these agree with the first end 
stakes, put in stakes here as at starting. 
The ground is now ready for work. Stretch 
the line along the first row, and wherever 
there is a pin, put in a stake; throw the line 
back, and dig the holes; when all in the row 
are dug, bring back the line and plant each 
tree at a pin. Continue in this manner until 
the orchard is planted; when done, your trees 
will range as straight one way as another. The 
person should be careful not to get the line 
wet, as it will not measure correctly. 
Preparing Trees for Planting. 
Nurserymen, w'hile they sometimes deprive 
a tree of a large share of its roots by hurried 
and careless digging, usually send the pur¬ 
chaser the full quantity of branches. The 
inexperienced tree planter judges of the 
quality of a nursery tree by the size of the 
top. When he is told that at least one-liaif 
of the top should be cut away before the tree 
is planted, he thinks he knows better, and 
sets out the trees just as they came from the 
nursery. The many poor, struggling orchards 
all over the country bear witness to the gen¬ 
eral neglect of the proper preparation of the 
trees before planting. A novice has a great 
reluctance to use a knife on his trees. It 
seems a great waste to cut off any part of 
the trees that he has bought, though he gives 
hardly a thought to the roots he has paid 
for, and which are left in the soil of the nur¬ 
sery. It is within bounds to say that even 
when a tree is carefully dug, at least one- 
half Of its small fibrous roots—the really 
useful and feeding roots—are broken or cut 
off in the operation. This would be of little 
consequence were the top of the tree reduced 
in the same proportion. Even those who 
have given but little study to the growth of 
plants will admit, in a general way, that the 
root takes up water from the soil, and that 
the leaves evaporate the water thus taken up. 
Fig. 1.— YOUNG TREE, PRUNED. Fig. 2.— UNPRUNED. 
It should need no argument to show that if 
half of the absorbing roots are gone, and all 
of the evaporating surface (the leaves which 
will soon be produced from the buds) re¬ 
mains, this will be in excess, and make a 
demand upon the roots which they can not 
supply. Most persons will admit that trouble 
will soon come if they spend more than their 
income, yet they persist in placing their trees 
need to be much stimulated, and especially 
not when young. The seedling plants, the 
soil in which they are growing being first 
well watered, are taken up and planted out 
at least two inches apart each way. In doing 
this, it is important to set the plant well 
down in the soil, so that the seed-leaves just 
touch the surface. Very soon the portion of 
the stem of the seedling thus covered by the 
soil, will throw out numerous fibres, forming 
a mass of secondary roots to supplement the 
in the position of a spendthrift. There is no 
one thing so essential to the future success of 
an orchard as the proper cutting back of the 
tops before planting. Before the trees are 
taken to the ground, some careful person, 
who will use some thought as well as a sharp 
knife, should go over them one by one. 
Taking each tree in the left hand, let him 
turn the roots upward. If any of the larger 
roots show a rough end, from being broken 
with a dull spade, let them be cut smooth, 
making a slanting cut on the 
lower side. If any roots are 
much longer than the others, 
let them be shortened. The 
roots being cared for, turn up 
the tree and inspect the top. 
If any of the branches are 
badly shaped or crowded, cut 
them out altogether, and cut 
back each branch not less than 
a third of its length; and as 
a rule, it will be better in the 
end to cut away one-half. In 
cutting, use a sharp knife, and 
cut just above a bud—not so 
near it as to endanger its dry¬ 
ing out, but leave no percept¬ 
ible stub above it. It is not a 
matter of indifference to w hich 
bud you cut; it should be one 
on the outside of the branch, 
so that the shoot from that 
will push away from the cen¬ 
tre of the tree. These remarks 
apply to apple and pear trees. 
Peach trees, which are of but 
one year’s growth from the 
bud, are cut still more severely. Every 
branch is removed from these, and the main 
stem cut off at the hight fixed upon, usually 
three or three and a half feet, so-that the 
tree, at planting, is merely a single cane. 
The engravings show the difference in ap¬ 
pearance between an apple tree planted just 
as it came from the nursery, and one prop¬ 
erly prepared by pruning. 
Transplanting the Tomato. 
Whoever cultivates the Tomato, even if he 
resides in the far Southern States, wishes the 
fruit earlier than he could have it, were the 
seeds sown in the open ground. In northern 
localities the plants are forwarded by artificial 
heat, the seeds being sown in a green-house, 
in a hot-bed, or, on a small scale, in boxes in 
the windows of the dwelling. At the far 
South, the seeds are sown and the plants for¬ 
warded in cold frames, the heat of the sun 
being sufficient. When the seedlings are a 
few inches high, or have formed two “ rough 
leaves,” as gardeners call those which suc¬ 
ceed the seed-leaves, they must be trans¬ 
planted. This is doue not merely to prevent 
the plants from injury by being crowded in 
the seed-bed or seed-box, but to produce a 
more vigorous, and much better plant than is 
possible if transplanting be omitted. Every 
one who has grown tomatoes, must have no¬ 
ticed that when the stems come in contact 
with the soil, especially if shaded by the 
foliage, they tlnow out great numbers of 
small roots. It is the readiness with which 
the plant forms roots that makes transplant¬ 
ing so beneficial. The plants are trans¬ 
planted into other beds, or if in boxes, to 
. others filled with light and only moderately 
rich soil. The plant does not at any time 
primary roots originally formed. The plants, 
each having its root system at least doubled, 
will grow with increased vigor, and if light, 
heat and water are properly supplied, will be 
remarkably strong and stocky. Such plants 
when set out in the garden or field will be 
worth much more than those that have been 
left in a crowded seed-bed. Still better 
plants may be grown by transplanting them 
into three-incli pots, setting them well down 
as already mentioned. For a few plants in 
the family garden it will always pay to trans¬ 
plant to pots or some substitute for them. In 
some parts of the West, where empty oyster 
cans cost nothing, these are used to hold the 
plants, the bark substitute for pots de¬ 
scribed last month on page 68, may be used 
to advantage. Some years ago Dr. A. Oemler, 
of Georgia, invented a box, which he found 
very useful. The box is 23 3 / 4 inches long, 
18 wide and 7 inches high. This is filled with 
• soil and 20 plants transplanted into it, and 
placed in a cold frame. At the time of plant¬ 
ing in the field, the soil is saturated with 
water, and when the excess has drained off, 
it is cut down, by the use of a bricklayer’s 
trowel, in squares. Removing the side of 
the box allows these blocks of soil, each con¬ 
taining a plant, to be removed and set in its 
place without any disturbance of its abun¬ 
dant roots. The engraving makes the whole 
arrangement sufficiently plain. 
Mignonette Seed iia fontrl,—An 
English florist, named Reeves, purchased a 
quantity of Mignonette seed of Vilmorin, 
Andrieux & Co., Paris, as the Large-flowered 
Pyramidal variety. The plants were raised 
in pots, intended for market, over 13,000 of 
them, and the grower claimed that they all 
turned out to be an inferior kind, and the 
