so low, but all growth should be allowed to remain until the tree is well established. The 
most vigorous shoot may then be selected and trained to form the future tree. This can 
be trained up-right, by tieing to a stake where necessary. The tree should become well 
established in its new location by the end of the second growing season, when the 
surplus shoots may be removed and all of the sap thrown into the shoot selected to 
form the tree. 
How to Succeed with Nut Trees 
Because we see the black walnut, the pecan and the hickories growing in a wild 
or natural state, and occasionally bearing good crops of nuts, under adverse conditions, 
some people seem to think that these trees do not require any care or attention. While 
this is true as regards the trees when established, at least if they are planted on good 
land, the young trees should have some attention till they are established. When the 
trees are poorly planted on old, worn out land, and left to shift for themselves, failure 
will be the result, and the same is true of any other tree or trees. The principal require¬ 
ments for success with nut trees is soil fertility. The nut tree is a natural engine of pro¬ 
duction and, with the help of sunlight and moisture, can turn the crude soil salts and 
fertility into a finished and highly concentrated food product, but we cannot expect the 
tree to produce large or regular crops unless the soil fertility is kept up, any more than 
we can expect the gas engine to run without gas or oil. However, it is not necessary 
or even advisable to delay the planting of the nut orchard because the land to be 
planted is not fertile. By using some food fertilizer such as bone meal or tankage, mixed 
with the soil around the roots in planting the trees, we can supply the fertility neces¬ 
sary for good tree growth at once, and very cheaply, as two or three quarts of thid 
material is sufficient for average size trees, and by mulching the ground around the 
trees with stable manure, grass, straw, leaves or other material, sufficient moisture can 
be maintained for good tree growth without cultivating the land. This annual mulch, 
rotting on the surface, quickly builds up the soil about the tree, and by growing Sweet 
Clover or other legumes the land can be built up to a high state of fertility with very 
little expense and while the trees are growing. Nut trees do not require cultivation and, 
being planted 40 to 50 feet apart, in orchard form, the young trees use only a small 
portion of the area for several years, and this gives ample time and opportunity to build 
up the soil in a natural way, and at the same time no time is lost in bringing the orchard 
forward. When these trees are planted on good farm land, one can continue to crop the 
land for several years if desired, and the distance given the nut trees in orchard form 
makes them little in the way of cultivating farm or truck crops for several years. 
I mention Sweet Clover especially in connection with soil improvement, because, in 
my experience, it is the only legume that does well on old worn out or gullied fields. 
Sweet clover is really a wonderful plant, as it not only takes well on poor, worn soils, 
but it will grow 6 or 8 feet tall. The unhulled seed is the best to use. We sow this at 
the rate of one-half bushel to the acre, right on the hard ground, without any preparation 
whatever, with excellent results. 
When mulching trees be sure to keep the mulch about four inches from the trunk 
of the tree. Often mice like to harbor in the mulch and will eat the bark from the 
tree if the mulch lays against the tree. 
