CARE OF TREES AND PLANTS 
Regardless of how choice your selection may be 
in trees and plants, or how perfect they may be 
when received by you, unless they are handled 
properly in planting and given the right kind 
of care, they will not give the results that are 
desired. 
In making up a list of trees and plants you 
need for your planting, take time to select varie- 
ties that will give you just what you want, rather 
than plant varieties at random which may give 
you neither good fruit nor fruit at the time you 
desire it. Also, it is not always the lowest cost 
trees and plants which are cheapest in the long 
run, but it is plants with good roots, that have 
been properly grown, and which have been 
handled so that vitality has not been destroyed. 
When you receive your order from the nursery, 
arrange to plant as quickly as possible. If stock 
is received during freezing weather, place where 
it will be protected from extreme cold, but do not 
put it near the fire or where it will become heated. 
Trees and plants may be received in frozen con- 
dition and yet be entirely all right. Where this 
happens, it is a good plan to place them in a cool 
dark place, without unwrapping, covering with 
straw or similar protection, where they may be 
allowed to thaw out gradually. Do not attempt 
to thaw them out by warming, for this would 
mean damage to them. 
If you have not already prepared your ground 
for planting, do so immediately, being sure that 
soil is well cultivated. Dig holes amply large 
to receive the roots without crowding, and if soil 
is poor, be sure to add other soil which is well 
pulverized and fairly rich around the roots of the 
trees, using the top soil for completing. Also, see 
that ground is fertilized properly and is kept well 
cultivated in order that trees and plants may have 
opportunity to become established. Use plenty of 
water in setting the trees and plants, tightening 
the soil thoroughly as the holes are filled in, then 
when hole is almost full and soil well tightened, 
use plenty of water that the soil may be well 
settled around the roots. 
Where plants have ball of earth burlapped 
around the roots, avoid breaking this ball. Set 
in a hole that is plenty large to receive without 
crowding, setting about one inch deeper than the 
surface of the ground, then cut the burlap loose 
from around the top of the ball and allow it to 
fall back in the hole without removing. Fill in 
around the ball as you would around the roots of 
any other plant, tightening thoroughly, and using 
plenty of water to settle. 
For shrubs, roses, etc., handle in the same way, 
though it is usually more desirable to prepare 
special bed for roses, selecting location that will 
have plenty of open air and sun, and particularly 
one that is well drained. It is usually better to 
remove the soil from the bed, filling in with good 
loam that is fairly rich, or using fertilizer in the 
soil. Plant so that plenty of room is given between 
the plants for cultivation. Remember that roses 
like lots of food and water during the summer 
months, and that you cannot hope to get bloom 
without this. 
Careful and proper setting of trees and plants 
is necessary, but is only the beginning of a suc- 
cessful orchard or beautiful home grounds. Culti- 
vation, mulching and watering, as well as spraying 
and pruning, must be carried on consistently or 
first investment will fail. Cover crops planted in 
the orchard and turned under with the plow at the 
right time will give both feed and humus to the 
soil; and thorough cultivation, intelligent fertili- 
zation, careful pruning’ and seasonable spraying 
will give abundant returns for money, labor and 
time so expended. To have good things for the 
home requires thought and effort in all things, 
and trees and plants are no exceptions. 
These suggestions are only brief, their purpose 
being to impress on the home planter that good 
care and cultivation is necessary in order to 
secure the best results, whether this be in the 
orchard or the grounds around the home. We 
shall at any time be glad to give instructions 
which may be needed for special plantings and 
to help in any way possible to make a suecess of 
the trees and plants you purchase from us. 
© 
TEXAS NURSERY COMPANY 
SHERMAN, TEXAS 
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