Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1918-03-21
The Planting Of Trees
In Codington County

CThe writer of the appended article
IS credited with having raised the first
apples in C~odington county. This
was in 1883. The previous year 1SS2t
he had produced the first tame straw
berries, He has been a member of
the State Horticultural Society for
sixteen years and for the past twelve
years he has been elected county di-
rector,-Editor.)
When the trees arrive, if fruit trees,
or forest trees, it anywise dry, lay
them down and cover them up with
moist dirt, top, root and all; leave
hem several days to soak up, or to
absorb the moisture; then examine
the roots to ascertain whether they
are alive, cut off the bruised ends, and
set the trees ten to twelve inches
deeper into the soil than they stood
in the nursery, That is none too deep
for an apple tree. The tops may need
to be cut back NJ so as to CORE
spond with the roots.
To take a tree. with a large top and.
small root, it will be found that III
may leave out but will make a poor
growth, inasmuch as the roots cannot
furnish moisture or nutrition enough
to keep the leaves green and make
them grow; the tree will just stand
still with regard to development. and
the chances are it will die before fail.
will give my experience with a
dozen apple trees with poor roots,
They came by express, with roots
ma r1rlI in, yraf Is SrTl,1.r 1111,ol an
right, except the tops were dry, too
dry to set out; but hadn't started. /
laid them down, opened the bundle
SO that the moist dirt would be around
each tree; covered them, root, top and
all, and left them there ten days. 1t
was then the middle of May, and the
weather was warm. / took them up;
they looked fine, buds had started, al
most ready to open; | then took my
knife and examined the roots; all Of
the fine roots up to larger than a lead
Nencil were dead; the large roots
seemed to be alive; there was sap I'M
der the bark. | cut the ends of the
roots back to live wood and set out
the trees. Six of them leaved out;
the rest dried up dead. Those that
leaved out made no growth, Just
barely lived, and three of them died
before fall. and another died the next
year. So / had but TIVE left they
are alive 10Y but it took about four
years before they really got to grow
ing, and after that they made a slow
growth. A tree can't make much Of a
growth with those fine, hbrous or feed
roots dead. 1t must wait for new ones
to develop.
Trees should be cultivated for a
few years, at least until they get well
rooted; but they will do very well
mulched with coarse manure, straw,
hay, or anything that will hold the
moisture in the ground. 1t often gets
very dry here In the fall, and if the
ground in which a tree lis set freezes
up dry the tree is liable to freeze dry
during the winter and be dead iii the
spring; then we say it Is winterSkilled,
when the fact is 1T Is just starved to
death for the want of water.
Some have asked me what kind OF
fruit can recommend for planting
here in G~odington county. will state
here what 4 have growing and which
have done we'll for me. OF apples,
Duchess. Wealthy, Patteil Greening,
Anism, Hibernal; crab apples, Whit
ney, F5erenoe, Sweet Russell, Green
wood az pflirns, have about fifteen
different varieties or the Hansen
plums will name only d few of what
a think the best. Utica, Hanssa Was.
stera. Zeitanta. or the sand cherry
hybrid pluans, 9pata, Sapa, Ezeptan,
Saaotfo, Then 1 have other varieties
and wild plufas but npne of them il
equal totha Hansen blum IN bearing