THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
159 
CARE AFTER PLANTING. 
Professor H. E. Van Deman calls attention to the modern 
directions for the care of nursery stock just after planting. 
Recent study of the subject of conservation of moisture has 
indicated new methods. He says: 
Planting is over for this season and it is to be hoped that 
those who have had the benefit of the repeated and explicit 
instructions given in the rural papers regarding how to do it 
properly, have done their duty in following them. It is pos¬ 
sible that some have been so thoughtless or so jealous of the 
ground the trees are to occupy as to have planted them in 
wheat fields; or, have sown oats or grass seed among them 
before or just after planting them. If any of these things have 
been done, it is a great pity, and serious injury will almost 
surely result unless prompt and wise action is taken. In fact, 
time has been already lost, and valuable time, too, for the 
early part of the growing season is the most important. I 
know the excuses given, about economizing ground and labor 
in growing the crop and the trees all together; and I have heard 
the promises a thousand times (usually unfulfilled) as to how 
the trees wQuld be dug around or mulched. But the cir¬ 
cumstances are against the trees. They can not do nearly so 
well as if they were in ground that is cultivated all over. It 
should be thoroughly understood that capillarity works horizon¬ 
tally as well as vertically. This is the philosophy of a cul¬ 
tivated piece of ground being robbed of its moisture by an 
adjacent one that is not cultivated. One sucks the other dry. 
We should also fully understand that frequent stirring of the 
surface soil breaks up the infinitely numerous capillarity tubes, 
or channels, through which the water escapes to the surface, 
where it is evaporated and absorbed by the air. The loose 
surface is a sort of mulch. Where no such dust mulch is on 
the surface, as in a field of small grain, or grass, the evapora¬ 
tion goes on uninterruptedly. And if there is a little patch of 
cultivated ground in it, as in case of a tree planted there and 
dug around, horizontal capillarity will soon draw away its 
moisture. In addition to natural evaporation from the soil a 
growing crop of grain, grass or weeds pumps from the soil 
immense quantities of water which is needed in the functions 
of its growth, and a large part of it is passed from the leaves 
into the air. The proper thing to do in case this unwise plant¬ 
ing or seeding has been done is to plow up and plant the 
ground to corn, potatoes, or some other crop that must be cul¬ 
tivated frequently. It is either one or the other, stunted and 
damaged trees or thorough cultivation. 
Where irrigation is possible there need be little or no loss of 
trees or plants of any kind, if water is applied in moderate 
quantities and the surface soil kept in a finely pulverized con¬ 
dition, But there is danger of over-irrigation, because the 
water is so handy that one is likely to use it too freely. I have 
often seen the ill effects of too much water in the irrigated 
region of the West. The fruit was of poor quality, and the 
trees often diseased and sometimes dead from their roots hav¬ 
ing been “ drowned.” Where we have to depend on rains or 
soil moisture, we may be forced to lose some newly set nursery 
stock, no matter how faithfully we care for it. There are often 
unfavorable spells, some too dry and some too wet, hail 
storms, and insect and fungus foes to fight ; but we must be 
sure to do our duty. Nothing short of the most thorough pul¬ 
verizing of the surface will satisfy. This should be the main 
object of the season’s work after planting ; for in it lies the 
chief secret of success. The soil beneath the stirred surface 
should not be wet, neither should it be dry, but moist. In 
most soils underdraining is not necessary to prevent too much 
water in the soil ; but it should be done wherever there is such 
danger. The proper plan is, deep plowing before planting, to 
loosen the soil and make it porous, and then keep the surface 
for about two inches deep just as loose and dry as it is pos¬ 
sible to make it. The more like dust the surface is kept the 
less will be the evaporation of the moisture from below. Some 
have an idea that deep cultivation is the proper method, but 
this has been clearly proven by many carefully conducted 
experiments to be a mistake. The very best practical fruit¬ 
growers now cultivate very shallow but very often. It is truly 
surprising to see the benefit to growing trees and plants there 
is in running over the surface with a light harrow or similar 
implement. Last summer I visited one of the best fruit farms 
in the Michigan peach belt, where the Breed weeder and other 
like tools are used after the first plowing, and I never saw 
lands nor fruits in better condition. I was told by the pro¬ 
prietor that one man with one horse went over seventy-five 
acres of peach orchard twice a week with those wide but light 
implements. 
Mulching has its good points also. Where it is very dry, 
vegetation is in a perishing condition and it is almost the only 
salvation of newly-planted trees, vines, or bushes. Almost any 
kind of soft, trashy material that will hold the moisture below 
it wilLanswer the purpose. All the water from rains or that 
applied artificially will remain in the soil until consumed by 
the growing plant. 
THE JAPANESE CHESTNUT. 
As is now well known among fruit growers, the Japanese 
chestnut produces nuts of a large size—much larger than the 
Spanish, or Italian, which in turn is larger than our native sort. 
It is not, however, so well known that this—the Japanese—is 
but a small tree, adapted to orchard growth, as are apples and 
pears. It has not been in cultivation here long enough for it 
to attain full size, but from its appearance and its fruiting 
quite young, it evidently is not of as large growth as the others 
mentioned. Trees of but twelve feet in height are often quite 
full of flowers; and in this condition are ornamental lawn trees 
as well as desirable for their nuts .—Meehan s Monthly. 
POMELO—NOT GRAPE FRUIT. 
We have been asked repeatedly to assist in trying to correct 
the mispronunciation and conception of the word Pomelo. 
This most valued fruit is commonly miscalled Grape Fruit by 
not only those that are unacquainted with its nomenclature, 
but by very many that should know better. We notice that 
nurserymen advertise in Florida papers enumerating Grape 
Fruit among their other specialties. This fruit belongs to the 
citron family and has no relation to grapes or vines, and bears 
no resemblance whatever to the fruit of the vine. Let us call 
this fruit by its proper name, one by which it is known in its 
habitat—Pomelo. This fruit was introduced into the West 
Indies by Capt. Shaddock, who brought it from China in the 
eighteenth century. The proper name is Pomelo, although 
sometimes improperly called Shaddock .—California Fruit 
Grower. 
