372 
At RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 5, 1921 
A Farmer’s Apple Nursery 
[We have harl many letters from farm¬ 
ers who say they want to start a little 
home nursery. There is some question 
about the wisdom of attempting such 
work, but the following article tells how 
one farmer did it. We doubt the- wisdom 
of selecting seedlings in this way, and we 
plant deeper and with close root-pruning, 
but we give the statement as Mr. Rich¬ 
ards tells it.] 
The Seedlings. —In establishing the 
farm nursery the first requirement is the 
seedlings. These can often be picked up 
around the pasture fields or hedges, but a 
better place to tind them is around an old 
cider mill, where, pomace has been thrown 
out, or, better still, where someone has 
hauled out pomace and scattered it on the 
fields. In such a place millions of little 
seedlings can be obtained. If none of 
these conditions is present, go to the near¬ 
est cider mill and obtain a load of pomace. 
Mark out land to be planted with plow 
and scatter in furrow. Cover lightly, and 
thin trees to one every 8 in. In securing 
seedlings from an old field care should be 
taken to get the young, thrifty trees. If 
you are fortunate enough to find a field 
where pomace has been scattered the year 
before, the seedlings will be found to be 
about the size of young tomato plants, 
and are at their best age and size to be 
transplanted in the nursery rows. 
The N ursery. —Select a dry piece of 
ground for nursery that does not heave 
with frost, as nursery trees heave badly 
when on wet ground. Always mark out 
rows 4 ft. apart if a horse is to be used 
in cultivating, as the buds when growing 
are very tender and will break out at 
least touch of whiffietree. Set seedlings 
8 to 12 in. apart in row, and give thor¬ 
ough and clean cultivation all Summer. 
About August 1 give trees a light dressing 
of nitrate of soda or liquid manure to in¬ 
sure their being in thrifty growing condi¬ 
tion in September when budding is done. 
Budding.—I f 6-in. yearling seedlings 
are used in Spring setting, by September 
the trees should be from 2 to 3 ft. tall, 
and are at their best size and age for bud¬ 
ding. Set the bud from 12 to IS in. from 
ground. This gives a natural fruit root 
and stub, and my experience has been that 
grubs and mice do not like- natural fruit 
bark half as well as they do budded bark. 
Rabbits will hardly touch it. Tn trim¬ 
ming out the place for the bud do not 
cut away any more twigs than are neccs- 
A 
B 
D 
Method of Inserting and Tying a Graft. 
sary, as a severe trimming at budding 
time will throw too much sap into bud, 
and will start a Fall growth that will 
winter-kill. In budding apple trees two 
things are necessary; first, the seedling 
must be in a thrifty growing condition 
with bark peeling freely. Second, the 
scion or bud-stock must have finished its 
season’s growth with bark set. Hence 
the all-Summer cultivation in nursery 
with late fertilizing to insure seedlings be¬ 
ing in growing condition after the trees 
from which the buds are taken have fin¬ 
ished their season’s growth. 
Cutting the Scions.—I n cutting tin- 
scions always take the season’s growth at 
end of limbs, where the leaves and buds 
are large and thrifty. Never take water 
sprouts or inside growth. As soon as the 
scion is cut trim off leaves in. from 
bud-stock and place scion butt down in a 
can partly filled with water. ' In this way 
the scion can bo kept for a number of 
days. No special date can be set for bud¬ 
ding. as some years the trees from which 
the scions are taken are growing much 
later than others, but it is safe to bud as 
soon as the bark is sot on the trees from 
which the buds are cut. In budding be 
sure that the knife is sharp, with fine, 
smooth edge. 
How the Work is Done. —Three cuts 
are necessary. The cut at A, at left, is 
simply, a hack into the seedling above 
place of budding, and is used to draw 
cord through to fasten it, thus getting rid 
of tedious work of tieing. The cut at B 
is a half-moon cut with slit at C. Turn 
back the edges at B, and start bud. Shove 
bud down, letting the wedging of bud 
split bark till D is reached. Out at right 
shows how cord is wound. This method 
eliminates the necessity off tying and 
gives an even pressure at all points on 
bud. Cut away string in two weeks. In 
cutting the bud be sure that a very thin 
shaving of wood is takeu off with it. 
After Culture. —The next Spring cut 
away seedling above bud, trim away limbs 
below it, and keep sprouts removed, thus 
throwing all the strength into bud. (live 
thorough cultivation and by Fall the buds 
will have grown from 3 to 4 ft. and tree is 
ready to set out permanently in orchard. 
Setting the Orchard. —Do not set 
your roughest, hilliest field in orchard. 
The best field is none too good. Eventu¬ 
ally most <»f your work will be done in 
the orchard, and the convenience of a 
.smooth, level orchard can hardly be esti¬ 
mated. Conditions may vary in different 
localities, but I have learned to set trees 
very shallow. By shallow setting the 
roots are always where you can reach 
them with manure or fertilizer. Dig a 
broad hole 3 or 4 ft. across and not over 
6 in. deep. Trees raised by this method 
when takeu up carefully will have from 
four to seven long lead roots with a mass 
of shorter fibrous roots intermediate. 
Spread the roots out flat t. long bottom and 
tramp dirt firmly about them. Set early 
in Spring. For best growth manure 
around trees after setting and plow field, 
turning a back furrow to each row of 
trees, thus turning under manure ai-ound 
trees. This method of plowing is not 
nearly as tedious as it may seem. Have 
a boy go along and hold trace away from 
trees the first round. Plant the field to 
some cultivated crop, potatoes or flint 
corn. Start the marker with tree row 
and mark toward center; thus if there is 
a wide or narrow row it is out away from 
trees, and the tree itself simply takes th > 
place of one hill. 
Care of Trees. —Do not be worried if 
you skin a tree now and then. When tin- 
bark peels freely another bark will grow 
again where the old one came off. Simply 
take your knife and cut away the loose 
bark and go on. When you come back 
next month a new velvety bark will be 
growing there. Never attempt to bind 
the loose bark back. It won’t grow fast, 
and will only make a hiding place for in¬ 
sects ; and never rub mud on the wound. 
The Cover Crop. —The next year the 
field may be seeded to oats and clover. 
Oats left to themselves are very hard on 
orchard, but my method is to take a hole 
after the oats are sprouted and kill the 
seeding around each tree for a space of 
3 ft. out from the trunk. This is done 
twice during the growing season, and may 
seem like a big task, but one man can 
easily hoe 200 or 300 trees in 10 hours. 
As no manure is used this year a light 
dressing of nitrate of soda, hoed in each 
time will work wonders. The third year, 
when the field is in clover, the trees are 
manured heavily again, and the fourth 
year the plowing and cultivating is re¬ 
sumed. By this method the trees will av¬ 
erage better than a 2-ft. growth per year, 
and at six years from bud will be ready 
for profitable bearing. 
Ort hs and Mice. —Look the trees over 
every September for grubs, and at the 
{Continued on page 374) 
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