Excerpt from Fruit Trees, Roses, Shrubs, Etc. And How to Grow Them

For fruit trees the soil should be dry, either natural or made so by thorough drainage, as they will not live or thrive on a soil constantly saturated with stagnant moisture. It should also be well prepared by twiceplowing, at least, beforehand, using the subsoil plow after the common one at the second plowing. On new fresh lands manuring will be unnecessary, but on lands exhausted by cropping, fertilizers must be applied, either by turning in heavy crops of clover or well decomposed manure or compost. To insure a good growth of fruit trees, land should be in as good condition as for a crop of wheat, corn, or potatoes. If you want trees to grow well, be vigorous and strong, you must give them plenty of food and good cultiva tion until August lst, when all cultivation should cease, to allow new wood to thoroughly ripen up before cold weather, which it will not do if kept growing by cultivation after that date.

In regard to this important operation, there are more fatal errors committed than in any other. As a general thing, trees are planted in the ground precisely as they are sent from the nursery. In removing a tree, Figs. 1 and 3 show trees as they come from the nursery. Figs. 2 and 4 show the same trees propno matter how carefully it may be done, a portion of the roots are broken and destroyed, and consequently the bal ance that existed in the structure of the tree is deranged. This must be restored by a proper pruning, adapted to the size, form, and condition of the tree, as follows: Standard Orchard Trees. - These, as sent from the nursery, vary from five to seven feet in height, with naked stems or trunks, and a number of branches at the top forming a head. These branches should all be cut back to within three or four buds of their base. This lessens the demand upon the roots, and enables the remaining buds to push with vigor. Cut Off smoothly all bruised or broken roots up to the sound wood. In case of older trees, of extra size, the pruning must be in proportion; as a general thing it will be safe to shorten all the previous year's shoots to three or four buds at their base, and where the branches are very numerous some may be cut out entirely.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.