American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1907-10-26

Any industrious man of ordinary in
telligenee. however limited his means
may be % start with. who has forty
acres Of suitable land may have com
mercial orchard Of one thousand trees
and have enough land left for feed and
pasture. Other cultivated crops may be
grown between the trees for the first
three or four years. He can take care
Of that many trees. and do IL well, bu,
il he goes much beyond that number,
hired help will be necessary and the
profits proportioately smaller.
The start is half the race Statistics
show that only about ten per cent of
the trees sold by nurseries ever come 10
bearing; that is discoursging. The
causes Of failares are trseable 10 the
nurseryman. 10 the transportation com
panies. and TO the planter himself: and
when the poor little tree is abused by
all three. is IL any wonder that il refuses
10 grow
The theory that tree may be taken
from the ground after entering the
dormant state during the fall. kept out
during the winter and returned 20 the
ground again in the spring withou, in.
jury is correct p,op.dsd its root system
Is not disturbed and provided that the
temperature and humidity Of the place
In which IL is kept while out Of the
ground be the same as the ground from
which il vas taken. and IL these pro-
visions obtained il would not matter
whether the nursery was one mile or
one thousand miles. Put in practice
how often do trees receive that treat.
mcnty answer neaer
On The ABOVE theory ali wholesale
ard many retail nurserymen take Up
their trees in the fall ard store them for
spring delivery.
In taking them up they use tree
digger machine that works on the
principle Of a sagebrush grubbcr with
knives running underground that server
the roots from the tree a few inches
below the surface. The tree Is thus
deprived Of half or more of its root
system and the loss must be regrown
before the tree can make any growth.
Naturs establishes an equilibrium be-
tween roots and top ard when the roots
have been cut away the equilibrium has
been disturbed and must be restored
before growth can proceed. In a meas
ure it may be restored by cutting away
the branches proportionatcly to the loss
Of roots. but in any event the tree is set
back at least year. II the roots have
been cut Off smoothly by the digger
(which is seldom the easel they will
calous, that is. white rim will form
around the bottom Of the roots. from
which new roots will start, provided the
tree has not been otherwise injured SO
sa to impair its vitality.
All roots that have not been
cut off smouthly should be so cut be-
fore planting and all bruised roots
should be cut of. Decay in root is
like decay in tooth-it will keep on
decsying until all is gone unless the
decay Is arrested.
After the tree digger separates the
trees from their roots. they are pulled
from the ground by their branches. the
earth all shaken from the roots, taking
with it large proportion Of the hair or
fibrous roots which absorb plant food
from the soil and feed il to the main
roots, which in turn feed II to the cam
blum, pulpy substance just under the
bark, which under microscope re-
semblcs sponge and which by capillary
attraction carries it as sap to the top of
the tree and which distributes it among
the branches.
In the dormant state this cambium
dries and hardens and becomes wood, and
SO the tree grows. If these fibrous roots
become dead. and they will il exposed
to the sun or wind for few moments.
new ones must grow before the main
roots can receive much nourishment
from the soil.
Transportation.