The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-02-07
HORTICULTURE.
More About Trees and How 10 Plant
Them.


More About Trees and How to Plant
EDITORS NEws:-SInce my arrival in
this thriving little city have noticed sew
al good articles in THE NEWS on horti-
culture and tree planting. The follow
ing hints on transplating may be of use
to some of your many readers. Do not
get discouraged in planting trees that
are not natives of the state. Many of the
farmers of Lyon and adjoining counties
are growing the American sweet chest
nut and different kinds of evergreens.
To be successful with these varieties you
must give them subsoil of gravel or
stone. There is something in stone that
is indispensable to the growth of many
varieties of trees. In planting flowers
and ornamental trees dig hole three
feet deep and the same in diameter, fill
in the bottom twelve to sixteen inches of
coarse gravel or stone, then good top soil
to the proper height for planting; cut off
all parts of bruised or broken roots, cut
ting from the bottom up. Set the treesin
the hole without cramping the roots, then
pack clean, well-pulverized top soil
around all the small roots with the hand.
When the hole is filled up to within four
or five inches OF the surface, throw in a
half bucket of water to settle the earth
firm around the roots and to hold the tree
in place; fill to the surface and press
down firm with the foot, and the work is
done. To dig the holes and properly
plant thirty trees is an average days
work for two men. Some farmers will
plant one hundred and fifty trees in
single day; and if the trees die, they call
it bad luck or bad trees 1t is neither;
it is bad tOOrk. In transplanting orna
mental trees, shrubs, roses, ETC., the plant
er has decidedly the choice, and may Sc
lect the size best suited to his or her taste,
consistent with the needed supply of
roots, which any nurseryman of expert
ence can decide.
Be sure you do not go wrong in the
following: A strong clay loan is natu-
rally adapted to the growth of strong,
healthy, well-ripened trees, fact of the
utmost importance to all fruit growers.
The evidence is not wanting to show that
trees produced on soil of this kind have
the advantage of even regular growth in
the nursery, tending to hardihood and
avigorous, robust constitution,
the acknowledged foundation for longev-
ity and requisite fruitfulness so desirable
and indispensable in every tree--an item
not obtained when grown upon very
light or clammy soil. l make bold to
say that the following varieties of trees,
standing in nurseries that are located on
light or heavy clammy soil, are gener-
ally killed to the snow-line: All sweet
cherries, dwarf pears, peaches, and many
varieties of apples, as they grow faster
and are much more tender on this kind
of soil. Sixteen to twenty degrees be-
low zero will kill eight out of every ten
trees of the above varieties on the kind
of soil mentioned
Many farmers in the western states
object to buying from foreign nurseries
The principal objections are-First, that
agents swIndle them. In this case the
planter is as much to blame as the agent.
In the nurserymen's second annual con-
assembled at Chicago, in June,
1877, that body fully authorized the use
Of certificates for the purpose of protect
ing both nurscrymen and purchaser from
being imposed upon by men whose rep
reservations are not truthful. All au-
thorized agents, representing reliable es-
Adjustments, are supplied with certifi-
Gates for the purpose stated above
Farmers, ask the agents who call on you
for this certificate. If you deal with an
agent of any responsible |
company, you are no more liable to be |
than one of our merchants are
in buying boots, shoes or dry goods from
4 commercial man by sample. The sec
md objection is that trees are not accli- |
mated. Science does not teach us that
anything possessing life is subject to |
climatic change until after maturity. |
Will any of our scientific men claim
hat child two years old is subject to
being acclimated? The same will hold
good with colt, calf, a tree or plant |
look upon the matter of acclimatlng a |
,wo or three year old tree as delusion, |
4 snare and fraud. The third objection
will be transporting from a distance and |
being kept out of the ground too long.
Elwanger & Barry, of Rochester, n. Y,
The largest nurserymen on the globe, |
have made shipments of trees to Aus
tralia and Japan by sailing vessels, on
orders from the above governments The
.rees and plants arrived in good condi- |
ion and the experiment has been pro-
a success. Other large estab
ishments have shipped the products of
heir grounds from Maine to Texas with
good success. Trees and plants, properly
lug and packed, so the roots are not
allowed to dry, then carefully hand |
ed, are just as safe for the planter as i'll
grown ten rods from his door. Do not |
infer from the above that an opposed |
o transplantIng home grown trees.
Far from it. If you can get what you
want from the small nurseries of the |
tate buy them there, for believe in pat
home industries. My aim is to
'efute the false idea that trees cannot be |
shipped from a distance with perfect |
'afety. Mr.. Nathan Davis, east of the |
;ity, has fine orchard purchased from
'ome eastern nursery that is in full bear
ng, and produces many varieties of
,ruIt that could not be had this side of |