The state herald., 1891-04-10
Colorado Fruit. Growing.

| As the time for fruit planting has nov
arrived, perhaps few items Of my exper-
ience will not como smiss to many Of your
agents are again abroad in tho land prais-
Ing their stock up TO the sky. Such hardy
varieties and large fruit was never before
brought out. They have this year got
varieties that cap the climax above oil
other fruit over known In Colorado, and
their prices arc only moderate for these
varieties of fruit, only from si.b0 to e fol-
pear trees. As far as twenty-five years.
experience In Colorado goes 1t 10 best &c
let these agents alone. II you want east
orn stock send to some responsible nur-
seryman direct who has u reputation al
! stake, and get your stock from him. was
talking to man from Longmont, Colo.
last week, and he told me he was advised
by trcc agent last fall TO give him his
order for trees to tho amount OF 800, and
was advised how to plant them, and he
told me had not tree left Of tho 800 bill
that was living, and several OF his neigh
bors were In the same fix. The reason
was the trees had boon dug too early, be-
fore they had got through growing; and
the man told me he could see that the
leaves had been stripped OF. Don't plant
trees in the fall, either eastern or Colorado
grown, nor got them In the fall for early
spring planting. To my certain knowledge.
nursery trees grown in Colorado are not
through growing before the end Of Novem.
Der. DSo would advise oil tree planters
not TO plant In Colorado before very carly
in the spring, the earlier the better. Some
will say why not get trocs ir the fall dhld
bury them so rs 10 have them on hand for
carly sprinP planting. To such ] say, II
you want your trees 10 grow don't do IT,
One great fault Of nurserymen Is, they dig
their trees too early In the fall TO pack
away in the cold storage cellar for carly
spring sales. The consequence is that
more than half OF these trees are as good
us dead when planted in the spring The
too early digging Of trees Ia the fall was
spoken against ut the annual meeting Of
nurserymen held In Chicago last summer,
Neither would ! recommend planting any
kind OF small fruits in the fall except pot
grown strawberry plants. But plan, US
early as possible in the spring, both fruit,
ornamental and shade trees, also all kinds
OF small fruits. In planting fruit trees,
don't plant too close. Plant apple
trees ithirty feet apart Pear trees
twenty feet, except dwarf, which may be
planted twelve to fifteen feet. Plum If
teen to twenty feet cherry twenty to
twenty five feet, according to varieties.
Better have two good trees in the front or
back yard, than seven or eight closely
planted with their branches growing one
two or three varieties in u small space,
graft five or six varieties on one tree and
you will have them. But don't plant too
many trees In too small space. When
you plant trees, imagine what their size
Will be In eight or ten years, not what
they look like whom you plant them. One
good tree well grown will produce much
finer fruit, and Us much Of II, rs five or
six all tangled together. When planting,
tho first thing OF Importance is to have
your ground plowcd or dug very deep, say
from twelve TO fourteen inches, and well
mellowed. Dig holes wide across, say two
or three feet, and twelve TO eighteen inch
cs deep, partly I'LL In the hole with mellow
surface soil, so that your trees will stand
when planted about tho same depth 1t
stood In the nursery or triiie deeper
Lean the tree when planting u trine 10 the
windward so that when the tree gets es-
tablished you will have trco standing
perpendicular. Spread tho roots out
evenly and work the soil well among them.
Tramp down lightly II In heavy soil, II In
light sandy soil tramp more solidly; but
on no account use any manure In the
ground ut time OF planting. II you use
my manure ut nll spread 1t on top Of the
ground after your trees are planted, but
keep II away from the body OF your trees.
As soon as planted give u good watering,
ind tho first season water we'll about once
week, not oftencr; tho second season
water every ten days or two weeks. Keep
your ground well ltivated-don't allow
weeds or anything else 70 grow within
four feet Of your trees. Trees planted
and attended 10 In this way are bound TO
give satisfaction from the start, provided
you get good stock To begin with. In
planting never let the roots get dry, keep
them wrapped In wet sack. or what Is
better, keep them In tub OF water or
running stream until you are ready for
them, and you can get Colorado grown
trees that have really been raised In Colo
RADIO take them every time, rs EASTERN
grown stock md colorado.grown stock
IRE Ms different In appearance as gold Ia
from silver Follow the same method In
planting shade aud ornamental trees n
fruit trees.