Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-02-23
HOW To PLANT FRUIT TREES.
From paper on Pear Culture by James Drsps

HOW TO PLANT FRUIT TREES.
From paper on Pear Culture by James Drsper.l
How shall q tree be planted? Hundreds
of trees are planted, by digging n small hole
filling it half full of strong manure, stick in
the tree, jam the roots down with the boot
heel, fill up the hole with sods, stone and
dirt, and then vent your wrath upon the nur-
seryman for selling you poor trees, calling
him cheat, a swindler, scoundrel, and
other pet names, because your trees happen
to die. In the irst place the roots of q tree
must have room so let the hole be dug large
enough to admit all the roots without cramp-
ing them, anG then set the tree into the
ground SO that the small surface roots will be
| about two inches lower than where they stood
in the nursery rows. Dwarf trees should be
set so that the ounce stock will be buried
three to four inches below the level of the
grounds; in this way many dwarf trees will
strike pear root above the bud, and so the
tree eventually becomes standard; we then
have the advantage of early fruitfulness and
long life to the tree. Having placed the tee
in the hole in proper position, fill in the hole
with fine dirt, working it in around the roots
with the fingers or small tamping stick;
when the roots are well covered u few shovels-
ful Of compost may be used to advantage,
but the use of green, unfermented manures
should always be avoided in the transplant
ing of trees.
In regard to the after culture of the pear
If the soil is already rich the tree will not re-
quire much extra feeding. but on the average
of our New England soil, trees need liberal
manuring to grow and produce well. The
manure should be applied in the fall of the
year; three or four good shovels full of well
decompossd manure piled around the trunk
| of the tree will answer double purpose OF
preventing the ravages of mice, and of fur
| nishing nutriment to the tree, at the right
| time. The spring rains cause the teaching
of the manure about the roots, which by
being enriched early in the season will make
a good growth of wood that becomes we'll
ripened before the autumn frosts.
The time for transplanting trees, spring or
fall, should be considered. If the soil is dry
and well drained of surface water, trees may
be transplanted in the fall of the year with as
good results as in the spring. The
soil is in better condition, being dry and
mellow, and will pack better around the roots;
the tree will get firmly established ready for
an early growth the next year; and again, a
farmer usually has more leisure in the fall,
and can give more time to the work, which
| will be done better than in the hurry of the
srfing work. If the land is any way wet or
| exposed to the bleak northerly winds,
should invariably take the spring months for
transplanting. The proportion of spring to
fall planting, as practised by my customers,
has been as two to one, two-thirds of our
trade being in the spring, the other third in
the fall of the year.
When and how we shall prune2 The nur-
serymen have hit upon one general rule: Ito
prune when your knife is sharp" which es-
| tablishes one fact, that light knife pruning
may be performed at any Sc ason of the year
On the other hand, if large limbs are to be
taken off, or heavy pruning on large trees,
we should take the months OF March and
| April for the purpose. Trees, when first
transplanted, should be cut back heavy, at
least two-thirds of the previous years growth
| should be taken off This will help counter
balance the loss of root, and also give the
root a chance to get established first, without
being compelled to furnish sustenance for
bud and leaf on superfuous wood. Ibelieve
that more trees from the nursery die every
year for lack of this cutting back process
than from any other cause. After the first
years heavy pruning, young tree will not
require much pruning for several years sim
ply keep them clear of sprouts and cross
limbs. When We find the trees making q
heavy growth, say of two or three feet in a
single year, 1t is best to cut them which will
make them more stocky, and it also tends to
bring them earlier into bearing, which is de.
sirable when tree has attained n bearing
| size.