Of this subject we can only give the general outlines. This department
of soil-culture is so distinct, that the few who engage in it as a
business are expected to make it an especial study. In a work like this,
it is only desirable to give those general principles that will enable
the cultivator of the soil to raise such trees as he may desire on his
own premises. These directions may be considered reliable, and, as far
as they go, are applicable to all nurseries.
_Location._--This is the first point demanding attention. If a piece of
land containing a variety of soils can be selected, it will prove
beneficial, as different trees require different soils for their
greatest perfection. A situation through which a rivulet may run, or in
which a pond may be constructed, fed by a spring or hydrant, is of great
value for watering. The situation of the nursery, as it respects shade
or exposure, is also important. Trees should generally be as much
exposed to the elements, in the nursery, as they will be when
transplanted in the orchard. Trees removed from shaded situations to the
open field will be stinted in growth for some time, and may be
permanently injured. Never allow your nursery to be shaded by large
trees. Bearing trees, designed to show the quality of your fruit, should
occupy a place by themselves.
_Soil._--A theory that has had many adherents is that trees raised on
poorer and harder land than that they will occupy in the orchard, will
grow more vigorously, and do better, than those transplanted from better
to worse soil. Thus, trees have often been preferred from high, hard
hills, to transplant in good loam or alluvium. On the same principle, a
calf or colt should be more healthy, and make a better creature, for
having been nearly starved for the first year or two. Neither of these
is true. Give fruit-trees as great a growth as possible while young,
without producing too tender and spongy wood for cold winters. It is
only desirable to check the early growth of fruit-trees on the rich
prairies of the West, and that should be done, not by the poverty of the
soil, but by root-pruning or heading-in; this prevents a spongy, tender
growth, that is apt to be injured by their trying winds. Trees that are
brought from a colder to a warmer region, always do better.
_Preparation of the Soil._--It should be made quite rich with
stable-manure, lime, and wood-ashes, and cultivated in a root-crop the
previous year--any roots except potatoes. Those left in the ground will
come up so early and vigorous in the spring, that you can not eradicate
them without destroying many of your young seedlings. The land should be
worked very deep by subsoiling, or better with double-plowing, by which
the manure and top-soil are put in the bottom. As manure always works
up, the effect will be excellent. Buckwheat is good to precede a
nursery; it shades the ground so densely as to protect it from the
scorching sun, and effectually destroy all weeds. Trees planted on land
prepared by double-plowing (see our article on "Plowing") will make one
third greater growth, in a given time, than those on land prepared in
the ordinary way. In double-plowing, if the subsoil be very poor, it
will be necessary to give a top-dressing of well-rotted manure, worked
in with a cultivator. Thorough draining is also very essential to a
nursery.
_Time of Planting._--The general practice is to plant in the fall, at
any time before the ground freezes. The better way is to keep seeds in
moist sand, or dry and spread thin, until spring, and plant as early as
the ground will allow. Freezing apple-seeds is of no use. Hard-shelled
seeds had better be frozen, to open the stones and give them an
opportunity to germinate. The advantage of spring-planting is, the
ground can be put in much better condition, and the seeds will start
quite as early as the weeds, and much labor may be saved in tending.
_Method of Planting._--Plant with a drill that will run about an inch
deep, putting the seeds in straight rows, not more than an inch wide,
and two and a half feet apart; this will allow the use of a small horse
and cultivator, which will destroy nearly all the weeds. Use a
potato-fork or hoe, across the rows, among the seedlings, and very
little weeding will be necessary. It is not more than one fourth of the
ordinary work to keep a nursery clean in this way. Two thirds of those
thus planted and cultivated will be large enough for root-grafting the
first season, and for cleft-grafting the second. When your seedlings are
six inches high, if you thoroughly mulch them with fine straw or manure,
you will be troubled with no more weeds, and your trees will get a
strong growth.
For root-grafting, pull up those of suitable size very late in the fall,
cut off the tops eight inches from the root, and pack in boxes, in moist
sand, and keep in a cellar that does not freeze; graft in winter, and
repack them in the boxes with moist sand, sawdust, or moss, and keep
them until time to transplant in spring. They should not be wet, but
only slightly moist. In the spring, plant them in rows three feet apart,
and ten inches in the row. The second year, if they are not wanted in
market, they should be taken up and reset, in rows four feet apart, and
two feet in the row. Cut off the ends of large roots, to encourage the
growth of numerous fibrous roots. Large nursery-trees, that have not
been transplanted, are of little value for the orchard, being nearly
destitute of fibrous roots. But large trees, even of bearing size, when
transplanted in the orchard, do quite as well as small ones, provided
they have been several times transplanted in the nursery. This produces
many fibrous roots, upon which the health and life of the tree depend.
In many regions, great care must be taken to prevent destruction of
young trees by snow-drifts. This is done by selecting locations, and by
constructing or removing fences, to allow the snow to blow off; treading
it down as it falls is also very useful, both in protecting the trees
from breaking down by the settling of drifts in a thaw, and from the
depredations of mice under the snow.
Trees should be taken up from the nursery with the least possible injury
to the roots. Do not leave them exposed to the air for an hour, not even
in a cloudy day. It is an easy matter to cover the roots with mats,
straw, or earth. Protect also from frosts; many trees are ruined by
exposure to air and frost, of which the nurseryman is very careful in
all other respects. For transportation, they should be closely packed in
moist straw, and wound in straw or mats, firmly tied and kept moist.
Trees, cared for and packed in this way, may be transported thousands of
miles, and kept for two months, without injury.