The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-04-03
PLANTING FRUIT TREES.
AN ESSAY

Read by e. w. D EAN, before th
meeting of the Portage County Hort
cultural Society, at its meeting Marcl
10Th, 1879:
The subject is one of very great in
terest to me, connected, as it Is, wit
my business, but in presenting it cal
assure you that have only a yer,
small axe to grind, and if you watcl
closely you will probably see just whel
l shall want. you to turn. A tree is a
much thing of life, a living, breath
ing individual as an animal. Its res
piration is the same, it absorbes oxygel
and exhales carbonic acid. This is no
has been demonstrated by scientifi,
experiments. Being the humble in
strumentality by which good many
thousands of these individual beings
have come into existence, I propose t.
say word or two in behalf of theil
good treatment and future welfare.
To plant tree is simple process
and seldom fails, if the conditions anC
surroundings are perfect, consequently
what l have to say will be mostly con
cernlng those conditions and surround
lngs-and the first that offers is
WHAT TO PLANT.
cannot do better here than to quote
proverb: "Prove all things and
hold fast that which is good" This is
the principle, but one life is not enough
for it. For u vast number of things we
must accept the testimony of others
This applies fOrcibly to the selection of
varieties of fruit. A very large num-
Der of us must necessarily accept the
assertions of somebody else. And here
the wisdom or folly shines out in the
choice of Il proxy. Some prefer to
choose u TRAMP with a lying picture
book and an awful big axe to grind. 1
would have you choose your neighbors
who have had experience and upon
whose honesty and Judgment you can
rely. If these are not sufficient, 1 re-
fer you to the deliberations of the State
Horticultural Society. This society has
no axe to grind-On the contrary, for
the last twenty-five years it has been
steadily turning for you. AS starting
point for the discussion that is to fol-
low, L advise you, for home use to
plant what you like best, and for mar
ket plant what will sell best.
WHERE TO BUY TREES.
I don't SAY where, but do say that
it should be of parties of whom you
know something and upon whom you
can depend for the correctness of the
varieties you purchase. If the variety
is spurious the whole purchase money
is lost, for it costs far more to change
the top afterward than the original
amount of the purchase. It is general
ly best to buy at the nursery. 1t is of
ten safe to buy of those travelling to sell
trees if you know them-but to buy of
itinerants of whom you know nothing,
is never wise. And especially is this
true if he deals in specialties,' wonder
ful things which you have never seen
or heard of before. His marvellous sto.
ries are unreliable and his splendid
pictures equally SO. New fruits are
being constantly introduced, but we
should be moderate in our expectations
them, for if we are not, few
of them will be realized. New fruits
that promise well should be proved ,and
if their merits are established, they
may then be planted freely. Too many
glare, and the HUMBUG, you know, is
a very GORGEOUS aud DAZZLING IN
SECT. One of the finest specimens of
this insect l have ever seen is the So
called Utah Hibrid Cherry. Every
time you touch it you get bit. But see
by the papers that if you haven't been
bit more than two or three times
you can try again.
DIGGING AND HANDLING.
The connection of the tree with the
soil is its life support, and as soon as
this connection is broken the process
of dying begins. Although this pro-
cess may be retarded, I might almost
say suspended, during the dormant
season, still it's death, unless replaced,
can only be a question of time. The
therefore naturally follows
that the shorter the time it is out of the
ground the more of the life principle
remains in it. In the process of dig
5ing, the roots are necessarily shorten
ed, and it may be stated as general
ened the better. Some nurserymen
seem to act upon the reverse of this
rule, and they are wholly inexcusable,
If they do not know better they ought |
70, and every one can, by personal su-
pervision, or by the aid Of trusty as
'istants, prevent all needless mangling |
Of roots. In the needful care after |
digging, bad as some nurserymen are,
IS rule buyers are much worse. I am |
,ften asked how long it will do to let |
hem remain out, or how long will they |
Keep. The answer is, the shorter time |
he better. If my family were sick
shA l. Shoul0 SSty " tAC PhyS1CIslu, AOW |
Ong will it do to let them lie before |
you do anything for them? his pre-
'cription for me would very likely be,
But the one is just as rea- |
'Onable as the other. A great MAORI
y of buyers come OH the hottest days |
md in The hottest part of the day. |
They come without the least protec-
ion for the roots, exposing them to the |
lot sun and drying wind for hours.
low many heel them in the same day?
How many heel them in at all? Some |
lines it is cold and the roots get chilled,
This is bad, especially for evergreens.
4 warm, cloudy day is the best, but
'ou can't depend upon ciouds-tlley
nay keep off the sun, but not the winds
md when you want them most they |
nay be gone. However there are
plenty of substitutes for clouds that |
will stay by. The dying process goes
III very rapidly when the roots are eX-
,Osed to the sun and winds. I admit |
hat trees do live after hours and even
lays of such exposure-but to LIVE is |
not all that is reQuired--tO live is not |
Ill that is or ought to be expected. We |
plant a fruit tree that it may yield us |
'ustenance and enjoyment, and if it
'aiis to do this, the easiest thing to do,
md consequently the thing that is
most frequently done, is to curse the
I here venture the as
sertiOn that if the true causes of failure |
were known they would more frequent
~ be found much nearer home. 1 am
that trees, the roots of which
have been exposed to hot sun and
drying winds for half day, can never
become sound, healthy, long lived
trees, and L say to every body, go for
your trees with abundant protection
fl0s, l,o
heel them in, that is, cover the roots
with earth, take them out
one at time to plant, and if they are
planted and well cared for af
then if they do not do we'll,
so far as I am concerned, L give you
perfect liberty to curse the nurseryman
to your hearts content.
SOIL AND SITUATION.
The best possible situation for an Or
chard of apple, pear. peach or. cherry
trees would be a high table-land, de-
II l.