American Pomology. Apples

by J. A. Warder

We now come to the consideration of a matter of great importance to the success of the future orchard—the selection of the plants we are to set therein. No matter how favorable the site, how good the soil, nor how thorough the preparations may have been; all may be spoiled by a bad selection of trees, and subsequent disappointment will be the consequence.

Formerly, and in some sections of the country even now, very erroneous notions prevailed upon this subject. Large trees, of several years' growth in the nursery, were preferred by those who were planting orchards: trees, ready to bear fruit, were eagerly inquired for, and preferred; even if they had been crowded together so as to be drawn up to a great hight without any lateral branches, and had formed their heads at the hight of seven or eight feet, so as to be out of the way of browsing by cattle and horses, they were the more admired by the purchasers. Now-a-days there is a great change in the sentiment of tree-planters as to the age, size, and shape of the trees that are to be set out.

Thrifty young trees are preferred to older and larger ones on many accounts. They are more vigorous and will endure the disturbance of digging, transportation, and change of locality from the nursery to the orchard, much better than larger and older trees. They are more easily dug, and will have a larger proportion of roots removed with them than those which have stood longer in the nursery-rows, so as to have pushed their fibres beyond the reach of the spade. Such trees are more stocky, and are furnished with lateral branches, or they should be so furnished, but these would be smothered and removed from older trees in crowded rows, as they are usually found in the nurseries. If these younger trees be not already furnished with laterals and elements for the formation of low heads, by the judicious treatment of the nurserymen who produced them, the orchardist can at least bend them to his will. He may make of them just what he pleases by his own manipulations at the time of planting or afterwards, without feeling that he is sacrificing to his fancy and judgment the growth of two or three years, by freely using the knife and saw, in the removal of the surplus and overgrown top, leaving him only a bare and mutilated stock to set out at the beginning of his orchard.

Another advantage of selecting small trees, especially to those at a distance from the nursery, is, that they are so much more easily transported, and freight bills are a serious item in the expense account of a large orchard plantation—these may be reduced to a minimum by the selection of small instead of large trees. As to forming the heads of our trees, if we cannot get the nurserymen to do this for us, since we are unwilling to remunerate them for the extra labor, and greater space required to form such stocky specimens as we prefer, the difficulty is obviated by planting out young trees upon which we may form the heads where we please.

As already suggested, there is a great revolution going on in the minds of tree-planters as to the proper age for planting. Instead of the inquiry for huge and cumbrous, overgrown trees, that had stood four or five years or more in the nursery, we now find a growing demand for small, stocky trees, of two or three years, or even less. Of many thriftily growing kinds, good yearlings are much better for the orchard than large trees, especially such as have been crowded in the nursery and are devoid of side branches, and whose tall naked stems are exposed to the burning heats and blasting cold of their new homes in the open field, and to the depredations of hosts of insects. Those purchasers, who seek after the tall trees, with bare stems, running up like fishing poles, they who desire to buy their trees by the running yard and to get as great a length as possible for their money, can be accommodated by the nurseryman, who will produce the article to order; but such planters will soon find that their orchards are much less satisfactory than those set with short and stocky trees, and which have been encouraged to branch out so as to form low heads. As set forth in the chapter upon The Nursery, such trees can be produced, and they are greatly to be preferred on many accounts, but their production by the nurserymen must depend upon the intelligence of the orchardists producing a demand for trees of such a character, and a willingness on their part to pay the grower a liberal price for the increased labor and expense, (in space at least), requisite for their production. This no one should object to, for there is economy in planting good trees; the successful orchardist will purchase the best; he will not have the refuse or trash that may be offered him at a low figure, for he well knows that it is dear at any price.

Where it is practicable and within reach, it is best for the planter to visit the nursery and make his own selection of the trees, especially if the demand be for a limited number; but he may generally depend upon the judgment and honesty of the nurseryman, if he has given his order distinctly as to the shape of the trees he desires to purchase. In a common nursery, he will often observe at the ends of the rows, and where there may have been a gap or break in the continuous line of any variety, so that the trees are less crowded, some trees that are better furnished with lateral branches, and are consequently more stocky than where the rows are crowded. Here he will be likely to find the specimens that suit his fancy, and he will mark them for removal.

Digging.—At the proper season, and for most kinds this is at the fall of the leaf, the trees should be dug from the ground. This operation, as usually and necessarily conducted in large establishments, has to be done expeditiously and with less care than the amateur will be disposed to bestow upon this very important operation; and it sometimes happens that he will offer to pay the nurseryman a bonus for the privilege of digging his own trees with his own hands.

In performing this operation he will be very careful to avoid mutilating the roots with the spade, or by using more force than is absolutely necessary in lifting the loosened tree from its bed after the roots have been pretty thoroughly liberated from the soil. He will follow the directions given under this head in the appropriate section of the chapter on The Nursery. The importance of puddling the roots as soon as the trees are dug, cannot be too forcibly impressed upon the planter and nurseryman; its value to the trees is so great as a protection of the tender covering of the roots from exposure to the blighting influences of light, wind, and frost, that the trifling labor and expense involved in the operation, should not receive a moment's consideration.

A puddle hole should be within convenient reach of the nursery-rows where the digging is in progress, and each sort should be taken to it as soon as dug. The excavation should be about a foot deep, or more, for large plants, and as wide as is necessary to receive all the roots of the trees to be puddled. A plentiful supply of water should be at hand to put into the hole, and fine dry loamy soil should be sifted into this, or simply thrown in from the shovel, and thoroughly mixed, so as to bring the fluid to the consistency of thick cream. Into this mud the roots are dipped, until every fibre is endued with a coating of the fine material; the trees then are ready for tying snugly together, and a little dry dirt may be sprinkled or sifted upon the roots while they are still wet, so as to give them a further protection from the elements. They are then securely bound, each kind by itself, and each carefully labeled, if not already done; and as soon as all are grouped together, they are ready for transportation to their new homes. If the distance be short, so that the trees may be carried on the farm-wagon, no packing is used, unless the weather proves very inclement, but it is always safer to guard against both wind and sun, by covering the roots from their influence. For distant transportation, too much care cannot be taken to have the trees well packed to protect the roots from drying and freezing.

In our uncertain climate, it not unfrequently happens that we receive an invoice of trees in the midst of a severe storm of cold, when the ground is frozen hard, and we have reason to suppose that the roots in the cases are frozen. This need not discourage nor alarm us, if the packing be good, for we have only to be patient and allow them time to thaw out thoroughly in the dark, and we shall find our trees all right. The packages should be placed at once in a dark cellar, and allowed to thaw gradually—if no such convenience be at hand, the boxes may be buried in the soil, or covered heavily with straw or hay, materials which are generally abundant in a prairie country, where commodious cellar room is not always at command.