When to Plant.—The question of fall or spring planting is a less important one with a comparatively hardy fruit like the apple than it is with a more tender fruit like the peach. Apples may safely be planted in the fall when soils are well drained and when the young trees are well matured, both of which are very important if winter injury is to be avoided. Fall planting has several distinct advantages. During the winter fall planted trees become well established in the soil which enables them to start root growth earlier in the spring. Consequently the young trees are better able to endure droughts. In the fall the weather is usually more settled and there is better opportunity to plant under favorable conditions than in the unsettled weather of spring. It is usually possible, too, to get a better selection of trees at the nursery in the fall because most of the trees are not sold until midwinter.
Still the fact remains that the common practice of spring planting is the more conservative course. There is always danger of getting immature trees in the fall, and of winter injury to fall planted trees. Trees may be set in the fall any time after the buds are mature which is usually after October 1st to 18th in the latitude of New York. They should not be pruned back in the fall, as this invites winter killing of the uppermost buds. The question of available time must also be considered. On some farms fall offers more time; on others, spring. To sum up the matter, plant at the most convenient time, providing the conditions are favorable.
Where to Buy.—But one rule as to where to buy trees can be laid down. Buy where you can secure the best trees and where you can be sure of the most reliable and honest dealers. Beware of the tree agent, who has been guilty of more dishonesty and misrepresentation than almost any other traveling agent. Buy of a salesman under one condition only, that he prove to you that he is the bona fide representative of a well-known and reputable nursery firm, and then make your order subject to investigation of the firm's standing and finding it as represented.
The safest course is usually to purchase of your home nurseryman with whose standing and honesty you are familiar, and whose trees you can personally inspect. Such a man has a reputation at stake and will have an object in keeping your trade. Moreover, you will save freight, secure fresher stock with less liability of injury in handling, and get trees grown under your own conditions. If stock is purchased away from home it is better to get it at a nursery in a more southern latitude in order to secure trees of better growth.
All trees should be purchased in the late summer or early fall when the nurseryman has a full list of varieties and you can get the pick of his stock. Select a well grown mature tree two years old from the bud. One year old trees are preferred by many and if well grown and at least five feet high they are probably best. But a one year old tree is rather more delicate, requiring careful handling and intelligent training. Unless a person buys from a southern nursery and is an expert in handling trees, the two year old tree is to be preferred, but a skilful grower can make a more satisfactory tree from a one year old seedling.
The average buyer must depend largely on his nurseryman for getting trees true to name, which is the reason for laying so much emphasis on purchasing from an honest dealer. Some nurserymen guarantee their varieties to be true to name, and all ought to do so. Buyers should demand it. The seeds of the apple rarely come true to the variety planted. They are therefore usually budded on one year old seedlings imported from France. Sometimes they are whole or piece root grafted which is equally as good a method of propagation.
It is possible for a man to grow and bud or graft his own seedlings, but hardly advisable for the average small grower or general farmer, as it is usually expensive when done on a small scale and requires considerable skill. Always buy a high grade tree. Seconds are often equally as good as firsts when they are simply smaller as a result of crowding in the nursery row. A tree which is second grade because of being stunted, crooked, or poorly grown should never be set. Thirds are seldom worth considering at any price.
Fillers.—Whether or not the planter of an apple orchard should use fillers is a question which he alone must decide. In the writer's opinion there are more advantages than disadvantages in so doing, but we must state both sides of the question and let the reader judge for himself. The term "filler" is one used to designate a tree planted in the orchard for the temporary purpose of profitably occupying the space between the permanent trees while these are growing and not yet in bearing. Fillers make a more complete use of the land, bringing in larger as well as quicker returns from it, three distinct advantages. (See Chapter XII, The Cost of Growing Apples.) On the other hand, objections to their use are that they are often left in so long that they crowd and seriously injure the permanent trees, and that their care often requires different operations and at different times from the other trees, such as spraying, which may result in injury to the permanent trees in the orchard.
Trees used as fillers for apples should have two important characteristics; they should be rapid, vigorous growers and should come into bearing at a very early age. Two kinds of fillers are available, those of the same species, which may be either dwarf or standard trees, and those of a different species, of which peaches and plums, and possibly pears, are the best adapted. Dwarf trees may be dismissed from our plans with the statement that they have rarely proved profitable under ordinary conditions, as they are much more difficult to grow than standards and when grown they have but few advantages over them. The varieties of standard apples which are advisable as fillers have been indicated in Chapter II.
The use of peaches and the Japanese plums, both of which make excellent fillers because they grow rapidly and come to heavy bearing quickly, is limited to their soil and climatic adaptation. They are adapted to the lighter phases of soil and the more moderate climates and under other conditions are impracticable. On heavier soils and in more rigorous climates the European plums and the more rapid and early bearing pears, such as the Keiffer, make fairly good fillers.