The Tennessee Experiment Station re- 
ports that blue grass grew better in pas- 
tures with walnut trees. Partial shade 
helps grass in hot weather. A great vir- 
tue of Honey Locust for the pasture is the 
thin, open foliage, which lets a great deal 
of light through, so that grass can grow 
beneath the tree. In addition to being easy 
to transplant, the trees are rapid growers. 
The wood is beautiful, durable and strong. 
Some trees of this species are very 
thorny, but the two varieties I offer are 
almost thornless, and the tree is a very 
beautiful yard tree. 
Try some, especially if you happen to 
have the great gift of Curiosity or wish 
to experiment. There is a full account of 
the Honey Locust in the book TREE 
CROPS; see our price list. 
Calhoun. (V, probably also favored 
locations in IV.) 
Milwood. (Same as No. 1.) 
Cions for Sale 
We will attempt to furnish cions of 
such things as we can spare. ‘en cents 
per foot postpaid; no order for less than 
$1.00; no variety for less than 50 cents. 
Owing to the bother that cion shipping 
involves, we have an annual clean-up 
cion party on or about March 15th, each 
year. After that, cion orders must be 
accompanied by $1.00 extra for bother 
charge, and we probably will not have 
the cions. Strongly advise mailing cion 
orders promptly March first. It may in- 
volve a trip to some distant place in our 
500 acres of mountain side. 
When to Plant Our Trees 
If you plant in the spring plant as 
early as you can. Don’t put it off. Give 
the tree a chance to get settled into the 
earth and start its roots to drawing nutri- 
ment therefrom. From New York and 
Pittsburgh southward you can plant in 
November. 
Planting the Tree 
Don't buy a good tree and then neglect 
it. I want my trees to be well treated. 
Nut trees have great root systems. It 
is certainly true that young Hickories 
and Pecans have more root than top. If 
you had all the roots of such a tree you 
would need a hole a!most as deep as a well 
and as wide as a small house foundation in 
which to plant it. Transplanting such 
trees is an act of violence at best. The 
tops should be reduced to match the reduc- 
22 
tion of roots. Therefore, I trim all trees 
severely unless buyer especially requests 
otherwise. I also wax the trunks with a 
thin wax emulsion. This gives transplant- 
ing a higher percentage of success be- 
cause the wax keeps the trunk from send- 
ing out so much of the limited supply of 
moisture. 
One of my fellow experimenters planted 
700 nut trees in the spring of 1937 and 
lost 1%, but he wrapped the roots of 
every tree with wet burlap while carrying 
it from the bale to the hole. The nut trees 
do not make fibrous roots of size that can 
be moved except with ball of earth. It is 
very important that the roots do not get 
at all dry in planting. 
If you want the tree to forget its old 
home quickly, dig the hole at least 6 inches 
deeper than the roots will go. Fill it up 
5 inches deep with good rich top soil 
(no manure in the hole), work into it 
evenly 5 pounds of bone meal, add one inch 
of top soil and plant the tree. 
In planting the tree be sure that there 
is room for roots to spread out as far as 
possible and that earth is carefully 
worked in so that it touches every part of 
every root. After this is done pour in 
water until it stands in the hole. Then 
joggle the roots a little to establish per- 
fect mud contact. If you have to carry this 
water, carry it. It’s cheap insurance for 
such a tree. 
In filling up the hole leave a basin that 
will hold two buckets of water, and if the 
ground slopes make little drains so that 
shower runoff will run into the basin. 
It is an excellent plan to immerse the 
root end of your unopened bundle of trees 
in water for the night before you plant 
them out. The drink they get helps them 
through the next days. 
Care Immediately after Planting 
We beg that the trees be protected by 
clean cultivation or by 3 or 4 foot radius 
ot straw, old hay or paper mulch for 
the first two years, and watered if 
drought comes. It is really scandalous the 
way some people will pay good money 
for trees and then kill the trees by neglect. 
I want your trees to grow. You should 
by all means buy our little booklet on 
planting care and fertilization of nut 
trees; see our price list. 
All this may sound a bit fussy, but re- 
member you are winding up something 
that will run for centuries. George Wash- 
ington’s Pecans are still growing and the 
