Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-11-28
Selection Of Fruit Trees.

u6otAOu, tuOuSus auu SOOu Judgment.
A farmer who wishes to purchase q
horse is not satisfied with seeing 9
photograph of q wagon the horse has
drawn, Or by looking al lcolored pic.
ture Of 4 horse, but he will demand to
see the living animal, that he may ex.
anime all of his points before entering
into bargain for his purchase, but il
he decides to plant an orchard he gives
the travelling treeagent q cordial well
come, and looks over the highly col.
ored pictures of apples and. pears. and
other fruits that are represented in the
book Of the agent, which is gotten up in
the highest style of art, and is so de.
lighted with their beauty, and the mag.
nificent description which the oily.
tongued vender gives to each represen.
tation, that he too often forgets himself,
and thus falls entirely into the hands
of the agent, who makes out list Of
the varieties and the number OF each
that he must buy. then very politely
requests him to sign his name in his
book, that he may know where to de-
liver them, thus binding the farmer to
pay for the trees when delivered, what.
ever may be their quality. If the
agent is perfectly honest, the result
may be satisfactory; so in regard to
the purchasing of horse, if the dealer
is an honest man, to see . photograph
of the wagon the horse has drawn may
be sufficient, but how many farmers
would dare to risk it?
Then why risk it in trees; for it is
worse to purchase pear trees, or those
of the varieties we do not want, than il
is to purchase poor horse; for if the
horse is not what we want we shall
soon find it out and change him for q
better one; but if the trees are not what
we want, we find it out too late to rem.
edy the evil; we spend our time in
planting out the trees, and in cultivat
ing them for years, and when they
come into bearing 80 we can judge OF
their quality. if they are not what We
want, we may be too far on in life to sci
new plantation; at least we shall lose
years of time which we shall bitterly
regret.
He who has decided to plant out ar
orchard, having selected his location
should consult those who have had
long experience in growing fruit, in re-
gard to the varieties best adapted to the
soil he has selected; what will grow
we'll on heavy soil will not always
grow equally we'll on light soil; it is
therefore important to know the char
acter of the soil before selecting varie
ties. In purchasing new varieties the
greatest caution should be used; the
orchard should be made up of we'll
known standard varieties. and new va.
rieties should be introduced only as ex
periments.
Having made up list of varieties
the important question is where to pur'
chase. We think it may be put down
as rule never to purchase of q
stranger who seems to have no perma
nent abiding place; but if possible pur.
chase at the nursery, and select the
trees as they are taken from the ground
If this cannot be done then send tC
some reliable nurseryman as near home
as one can be found, and require him
to send trees not only with good tops
but also good roots, never forgetting
that good roots are the most important
portion of the tree; for with good
root we can in time make good top,
but the best top that ever grew is of nc
value without root. ., -o..-.i
It has been almost the universal
opinion that trees which have large
number of fibrous roots are better thar
those which have good sized roots with
few or no fibers, but O. large number
of carefully-tried experiments tend to
prove that trees which have few or nc
tibrous roots make a better growth
the first year after being transplanted
than those which have larger masses
of tibrous roots. The only way We Car
account for this unlooked-for result il
that all trees when removed have the
ends of the tibers or feeding mouths Of
the roots broken off, and when trans
planted send out new ones, and that the
large roots send out a large number ,o
new fibers or feeding mouths more
readily than the mass of tibrous roots
do.
A great deal has been said for an6
against the tap root. some contendine
that the tree will not grow or bear fruit
without tap root, while others declare
that barren tree can be made to beal
by cutting off the tap root; but thf
many experiments we have tried have
not satisfied US that there is any per
ceptible difference. "r ~ '0;' -
In regard to the top of the tree, i,
should show Q vigorous growth, be
symmetrical in form, and if an apple
or pear tree, from four to seven feet n
height.
If it can be avoided, never purchase O
tree that has had its spurs or lateral
shoots out of smooth with the trunk Of
the tree, for nature has furnished these
to shade the trunk of the tree, until its
top branches are out enough to accom-
plish the same purpose. The lateral
shoots may be cut back within few
inches of the body of the tree, but al
ways left long enough to throw out
leaves enough to protect the tree from
the hot sun. Thousands of. trees are
lost every year by leaving the trunk Of
the trees exposed to the hot sun Of oul
climate. ~ ~ st. =! =,
Never purchase trees that have had
their roots exposed to the sun and air
for even few hours. If tree planters
should exercise as much good, judg
ment in purchasing trees, as they do it
purchasing other articles, We should
soon be freed of unprincipled travelling
l.A1 IL