Planting and Care of Nut Trees 
It is important that nut trees be handled and planted carefully to get the best 
resutts. Keep the roots moist and expose as little as possible to sun or wind in handling. 
The holes should be dug amply wide to accommodate the roots and a few inches deeper 
than the roots are long. No manure or other coarse material should be used in the holes 
about the roots. A few handfuls of bone meal or tankage, mixed with the soil about the 
roots, will do no harm and will give good results. Only good top soil should be used 
in filling the holes, and this must be well firmed about the roots, while the tree is being 
planted by tamping with the spade or shovel handle or a tamping stick with a smooth, 
rounded end, that will allow the earth to be well tamped and at the same time, not 
bruise the roots. Most failures in transplanting are due to the planter not firming the 
earth well about the roots of the tree or from using water in the holes as the trees are 
being planted. If water is used and the soil handled while wet, it will harden and 
shrink away from the roots in drying. For the same reason, trees should never be plant¬ 
ed soon after a heavy rain, or at any time when the ground is very wet. If trees arrive 
when the ground is very wet, heel them in or put in the cellar till the ground is in con¬ 
dition to plant. If the ground is dry, so much the better for planting, and trees may be 
watered after they are planted. Remove a shovel of earth on two sides of the tree, and 
a foot or more away; fill the holes with water and after this has soaked in, put the dirt 
back, leaving a loose mulch on top. If the clay is thrown out and away from the holes, 
and only top soil used in filling the holes,—taking this top soil from a circle surrounding 
the tree, when the tree is planted, it will be surrounded by a depression or basin a few 
inches below the surface level. This is a decided advantage, with such trees as the 
pecan, walnut and persimmon, as I have found by several years experience. These 
trees may be planted this way either spring or fall, and on any land not naturally wet. 
Trees planted in this way not only live better, but grow much faster, as the basin about 
the tree gathers both moisture and fertility during rains, and is eventually filled up with 
the most fertile soil. This method of planting is especially desirable where trees are to 
be grown without cultivation. It is possible, by this method of planting, supplemented 
with an annual mulch, to grow vigorous trees and profitable orchards easily and cheap¬ 
ly on rough, cheap land, that would be quickly ruined by erosion, if cultivated. By sow¬ 
ing sweet clover or other strong growing legumes, a plentiful supply of mulching ma¬ 
terial can be grown right where it is needed, and at the same time, the land improved 
and built up. 
NUT TREES MUST HAVE THE TOPS REDUCED or cut back, either before or after 
planting. This forces an early and stronger growth and induces the formation of new 
feeding roots and the tree is well established in its new location much sooner. If the 
top over-balances the root system to any appreciable extent, the over-taxed roots will 
simply become exhausted and no new roots will form, with the result, that even though 
the tree may live, it will linger along several years before getting started. The top 
should be reduced one-half or two-thirds depending upon the size of the tree and its root 
system. 
TRAINING THE TREES 
A four or five foot tree, when cut back to two feet, will usually throw out several 
strong shoots, and this is just what is wanted. These shoots, being low, induce a quicker 
and stronger root formation and a sturdier tree. The head of the tree will not be wanted 
