American Pomology. Apples

Tying should be done as soon as convenient after the buds have been inserted; though under very favorable circumstances the bud may adhere and do well without any bandaging, no one thinks of leaving the work without carefully tying in the buds, and most budders lay a great deal of stress upon the necessity for covering the whole shield and cut with a continuous bandaging, that shall exclude the light, and air, and moisture. The material most used is bass matting, brought from Russia, as a covering to the packages of sheet iron for which that country is famous. This is the inner bark of the Tilia Europea, but our own Bass-wood, T. Americana, furnishes an excellent bass, and is procured by our nurserymen directly from the trees, by stripping the bark in June, and after it has lain a few days in water, the inner portion separates easily, is dried, and put away for future use. Those who have not provided the bass, are content to apply woolen yarn to tie in the buds; its elasticity adapts it well to the purpose. The ingenious budder, without bass, often finds a substitute for it, and a very good tie, in the soft husks of corn ears, the inner husks are torn into strips and used a little damp, when they are pliant and easily tied, answering a very good purpose. Many nurserymen, who have tried the corn-husk, prefer it to all other material, because it saves them the trouble of removing the bandages, as it decays rapidly, and yielding to the growth of the stock, it falls off before it cuts the bark, which a firmer bandage is apt to do.

Fig. 22.—MR. JACKSON'S MANNER OF TYING THE BUD.

S.S. Jackson, whose improvements in budding have already been mentioned, also adopts another in tying. He holds that it is not at all necessary to hide the bud with the tie, the only requisite being to retain the parts in contact. He uses No. 3 cotton yarn, cut in lengths of a few inches, more or less, according to the size of the stocks; a couple of strands are pulled out from the cut bundles; the first turn around the stock secures the end of the string by its own pressure, one turn more is taken below the bud and one or two above it, when the free end is passed into a cleft made through the bark above the point where the bud is inserted. This is found to secure the string sufficiently, and is easily loosened when necessary to relieve the tension caused by the continued growth, (fig. 22).

All ties should be loosened in the course of a couple of weeks, if the stocks be growing freely; otherwise they will injure the tree by strangulation. Sometimes it will be necessary to replace the bandage to prevent the effects of desiccation upon the bud, this is particularly the case with the cherry, and other fruits, that are budded early; but the tie is often left on the stock all winter, as a sort of protection to the bud. When loosening the ties, the buds are inspected and their condition ascertained; if they have failed, they may be replaced, if the stocks continue in a suitable condition. It is very easy to tell the success of the budding; the portion of the petiole left upon the shield is a very good index; if the bud has withered, this will also be brown and will adhere firmly to the shield; but, on the contrary, the bud and its shield having formed a union with the stock, the leaf-stalk remains plump, but changes color. Like a leaf-stem in the autumn, it assumes the tint of ripeness, and it will separate with a touch, and soon falls off.

The common method of removing the ties is to cut them with a single stroke of a sharp knife, when the bandage is left to fall off. Mr. Knight recommended two distinct ligatures, and left the one above the bud for a longer time uncut. When the buds have not been very fully developed, and when the stocks are very thrifty, it sometimes happens that the excessive growth about the incisions made for the insertion of the bud, completely cover up this little germ of a future tree, which is then said to be "drowned." Judicious pinching and shortening of the stock will prevent this effect, but care is needed not to pursue such treatment too far.

The stocks are generally headed back to within an inch or more of the bud, just as vegetation starts the next spring; but early set buds may be headed back so soon as they have taken, and will often make a nice growth the same season. This, however, is not generally preferred, and a late start in the growing weather of our autumns is particularly to be avoided, as the young shoot will not become matured before winter, and may be lost.

The advantages of propagating by budding may be summed up in the following remarks, which are presented even at the risk of some repetition.

This favorite method of multiplying varieties has some advantages over grafting, and is by many preferred on account of the facility with which it can be performed, and because it affords a means of increasing sorts in the nursery that have not been grafted, and of filling up gaps in the rows where grafts have missed; and it has been reported, that budded trees of certain varieties were more hardy than those which had been root-grafted. The objections, if such they can be called, are, that the period of performing the operation is limited, and that the young shoots from the buds generally have a curve that makes a crook or blemish in the tree when it goes from the nursery—neither of these objections constitute any real difficulty; on the contrary, the advantages quite over-balance them: as already suggested, it is a good plan for double-working certain varieties. The season for budding is at the period when the longitudinal growth of the stock is nearly completed, and when the wood-forming process is most active, so that the bark will part most freely from the wood—in other words, while the stock is still quite active in its circulation, but has, in a measure, made its growth. The scions used must have so far completed their growth for the season as to have filled their buds handsomely, but yet be so young as to allow the wood to part freely from the bark of the shields when they are cut. Those who desire to bud early, may accelerate the development of the buds by nipping off the points of the shoots to be used, this, in a few days, causes the buds to swell. The season of budding will thus depend upon the high culture of the nursery, and upon the condition of the trees from which the scions of buds are to be cut. Budding should never be done unless the stock is in perfectly good condition, if otherwise, it is labor lost. The old writers recommended damp, cloudy, or even showery weather; but under our bright summer skies our large establishments would never be able to dispose of their work, were they to wait for such suitable weather. Fortunately it is not found necessary to select such a season, but the greatest success attends the budding that is done in fine bright and even hot weather. The scions should be kept wrapped in a damp cloth, excluded from the rapid evaporation to which they would be subjected if exposed—this is better than to keep them in water, which exhausts them by dilution of the sap they contain. The scions should have their leaves removed, so soon as they are cut from the tree; this is done with a knife or the thumb nail, leaving a short piece of the leaf-stalk for convenience when inserting the buds.

Spring budding is sometimes desirable, either to fill up gaps in the nursery-rows, or to secure varieties, the scions of which may have been received too late for grafting, or when it is desirable to multiply them as much as possible, by making every bud grow. When the operation is to be performed in the spring, the scions must be kept back, by placing them in the ice-house until the stocks are in full leaf, when the bark will peel readily, and the buds may be inserted with a pretty fair prospect of success; of course, the American method must be used in this case, as the wood and bark of the dormant scion will not separate.

The stocks should be cut down as early in the spring as the buds begin to swell, with a sharp knife, applied just above the bud, and on the same side; the whole upper portion of the stock must be removed by a clean cut; this is better than to leave a stump of three or four inches, as is often recommended, as a support to which to tie up the buds in their tender growth. All shoots from the stock should be rubbed out while young; this may need repeating a second time.

If the stocks were strong, the buds will make handsome sturdy trees the first season; the branched form may be assisted by pinching the points when a few inches high, as recommended with the grafts. Two year old stocks should make pretty trees, at one year old from the bud.

PROPAGATION.—SECT. IV.—THE NURSERY

APOLOGY—NURSERYMEN NEED NOT BE JEALOUS—SITE AND SOIL—ROOTS AFFECTED BY SOIL—FIBROUS ROOTS DESIRABLE—ROOT PRUNING—THE PLOW PRUNER—DIGGING TREES—HIGH MANURING—OBJECTIONS—CROWDING THE ROWS IS STILL WORSE—PREPARATION OF NURSERY SOIL—DRAINING—LAYING OUT—DISTANCES—BEDDING APPLE GRAFTS—MULCHING—THE ROLLER AS A CULTIVATOR—LAYING BY TREES FOR WINTER WITH THE PLOW—THE SUBSOIL LIFTER—THE PRONGED HOE—THOROUGH PREPARATION OF CUTTING BEDS—MANAGEMENT OF CUTTINGS—AUTUMNAL PLANTING—WINTER MULCHING—GRAPE CUTTINGS—FALL PLANTING—LONG CUTTINGS—SHORT CUTTINGS—TRIMMING—VALUE OF THE LEAVES—STOCKY TREES.—SIDE BRANCHES—SHORTENING-IN—WHEN TO REMOVE—HEADING-IN THE TREES—WHEN TO DO IT—AGE OF TREES FOR PLANTING—MAIDEN TREES—DISADVANTAGES OF LARGE TREES—BENEFITED BY ROOT PRUNING—THE HOME NURSERY—FIELD'S PLAN—THE NURSERY ORCHARD OF WHITNEY—WINTER KILLING—PREVENTION OF BY EARLY RIPENING THE WOOD—INJURIOUS ANIMALS—MOLES—MICE—RABBITS—PREVENTIVES—INSECTS.

The Nursery.—Be not alarmed, brother nurseryman, think not that all the arcana of your craft are to be exposed to the public; one small chapter cannot injure you, even were it wise and proper to retain knowledge exclusively in the hands of the guild; on the other hand, ye need not be afraid that one who owes you so much would turn tell-tale, and expose all your weaknesses to the gaze of the multitude. From my friends in the craft, the many intelligent men and keen observers, who have ever been foremost in the ranks of our country's pomologists, no censure is apprehended for attempting to dash off a few brief directions for the amateur, or even the nurseryman, who is just beginning to pursue as a business the pleasant occupation of growing trees. Any censure from others, if such there be, who would feel afraid to trust their knowledge to the world, and who might think in this enlightened age that such a thing as secrets of the trade could be long retained in their own hands,—any censure, from such a source, would fall harmless—it is not dreaded. Indeed, though not of the trade, it would be easy to expose the ignorance that is sure to be found among those who might claim to be the exclusive conservators of knowledge, such however is not the object in view, it is rather to extend useful knowledge, to popularize it and to bring it within the reach of those who may need it, that this chapter is undertaken; and the labor is the more willingly entered upon, in the firm conviction that the more the knowledge of plants and the love for them is diffused among the masses of our population, the greater will be the success of those who are engaged as professional nurserymen and gardeners, who need not fear the competition of amateurs, but should rather encourage it, upon the score of such persons being and continuing to be their best customers—if not from any higher and more noble sentiments of affiliation with men of congenial tastes and pursuits.

Site and Soil for the Nursery.—A somewhat elevated position should be selected for the ground that is to be appropriated for the production of trees; the surface water should be able to escape rapidly, instead of standing in the paths, and furrows, and trenches. The fresh air should be able to blow freely over the young trees, swaying them about, trying their fibres, and at the same time giving them new strength and vigor: not that they should be too much exposed to the rude blasts, as they might be upon the vast savannas of the West, where a protecting belt of deciduous and evergreen trees, to a moderate extent, will be found of service, and conducive to the healthy development of young trees in the nursery. But even the naked prairie, exposed for miles in every direction, would offer a better location for the nursery, than a few acres cleared out among the heavy timber. Here the little trees, if crowded together, must be drawn up to meet the light, and will be poorly furnished with lateral branches, and unprepared to meet the rude battle with the elements that awaits them in their future orchard homes, which, indeed, too often become rather their graves, into which they are thrust, buried, not planted, and whence they rise no more, but after a fruitless struggle, dwindle and die.

A somewhat elevated situation is also valuable, on account of its greater probable immunity from frost, than a lower level; and this is often a matter of great importance in the successful cultivation of fruit trees.

The soil should be a good strong sandy loam, one that contains the needful elements for the growth of trees, and at the same time has a composition that will freely permit the passage of water through it, and be easily worked by the cultivator. Heavy soils, abounding in clay, are strong; but they are more retentive of water, they require more labor to keep them in a friable condition, and they are sometimes objectionable on account of the character of the roots produced in them. These are less abundantly furnished with fibres, as a general rule, when the tree has been grown in a stiff clay, than when it has been produced in a lighter and more porous soil. Mucky soils are too light, and should not be used for permanent nurseries, though valuable for seedlings, cuttings, and newly transplanted forest evergreens for a short period; unless the muck be underlaid by clay, and that it is near enough to the surface to be reached in the preparation of the soil, and to become mixed with its staple in cultivating it. Trees, for the orchard, should never be grown upon a mucky or peaty soil.

The different character of the roots formed by trees growing in particular soils, should not be overlooked by the propagator, since much of his reputation as a nurseryman, and the success attendant upon the labors of his customers, will depend upon the healthy development of these important organs, which have been called the mouths of plants. As elsewhere observed, peaty and mucky soils do not produce roots of a character well adapted to transplanting into upland soil. Very stiff clays furnish trees with long straggling roots that have feeble and scattered fibres; such roots do not present themselves in a good condition, nor are they easily separated from the soil, the tenacity of which often injures the slender fibrous portions, which it is desirable to preserve in transplanting. Sandy soils and sandy loams produce the very best roots, most evenly distributed, and also most easily preserved and removed when the trees are dug from the earth.

Much may be done by the intelligent cultivator, in any kind of land, to make good roots by proper treatment of his soil and trees. A thorough preparation of the ground, and disintegration of the soil, will conduce to this result; and thorough culture will maintain the good condition thus produced. Frequent transplanting will encourage the production of new roots from the cut ends of those that were ruptured in digging, and these will be within reach at the next removal. When taking up young trees, or when setting out seedlings in the nursery rows, the tap roots, and indeed all long straggling roots, should be cut back, with a view to producing the same result. When trees have remained for three or four years in the nursery rows, the fibres will have extended so far in search of food and moisture, that in digging them, the best portions of the roots will be left in the ground, and the young trees will suffer upon being transplanted in this mutilated condition. Such should be root pruned the season previous to their removal. This process is performed by removing the earth on either side of the row, until the roots are exposed, when they are cut off at from ten inches to a foot, from the tree, and the earth replaced upon them, the object being the formation of new fibres that shall be within the reach of the spade when they come to be dug for the orchard. Another plan for root pruning is, to use a very sharp spade, which is set down and pressed deeply into the ground, a few inches from the tree, so as to cut all roots that pass that limit. This, though a ruder method, is followed by good results.

Digging the Trees, is a process that should be conducted upon very different principles from those exercised in grubbing a thicket. The nurseryman wishes to clear his block, but the purchaser hopes to save his trees, and to have them live, he wants a good share of their roots with them. No one need expect, however, to have anything like a large proportion of the roots of a tree removed from the ground; that is out of the question, unless they have been grown in walled stations, confining the roots, like those of green-house plants in their flowerpots. In open culture, they will have spread through the soil in every direction, and cannot be preserved and removed. Repeated root pruning will be of the greatest service in furnishing a great many fine roots within reach; but at the best, a great deal of damage is necessarily inflicted upon the roots by digging, and the older and larger the tree, the greater will be the injury, and the smaller the proportion of roots to the branches.

In digging trees, it is important to remove the soil very carefully on each side of the row to expose the roots, always holding the spade in such a position that its side and edge shall be in the direction of a radius, from the stem of the tree as a centre. Never stand facing the tree to be dug, but keep it next the elbow, at one side. On finding a root, withdraw the spade, and try again; and, having ascertained its direction, endeavor to loosen the outer extremities first. Proceed all around in this manner, and by gently swaying the trunk, the points of resistance will be indicated; these should be loosened and freed until all appear to be free, when, by grasping the collar as low down as possible, the tree is to be lifted gently and freed from the soil; no force should be used beyond that which is absolutely necessary, to lift the plant from its bed.

Fig. 23.—HARKNESS' TREE DIGGER.

In the great commercial nurseries, all this care cannot be exercised; everything must be done in the large way, and labor-saving appliances, the valuable results of human thought, but still not thinking nor observing intelligences, must be used. One of this class is the tree-digger, which, in the prairie soils, is used with very good success. It consists of a very large deep plow, without any mold-board, but with a wide sharp steel share, which is turned up at the edges, so as to cut the lateral roots at some distance from the trees. It is drawn on each side of the row, by four horses, hitched ad tandem. The trees may then easily be lifted from the loose prairie soil. The accompanying engraving shows the tree digger of Mr. E. Harkness, which is much used in the nurseries of Illinois and other Western States. The figure is sufficiently clear, without much explanation. The broad steel blade runs under the rows and is drawn by four horses, two working one before the other, or tandem, each side of the row. Some of our Western nurserymen find great advantage from the use of this digger in their free soils, and also for root pruning trees that are to remain in the rows.

In the sandy loams of New Jersey, a similar tool is used for digging peach trees, which is drawn by a span of heavy horses that are attached to the two separate beams, one being on each side of the trees. This implement is found to be entirely satisfactory in its operations.

High manuring in the nursery has been objected to by some orchard planters, who say that trees, which have been forced into a too luxuriant growth in their infancy, receive so severe a shock upon being transplanted to the open field, that they never recover. With the neglect which is so commonly accorded to young trees in the orchard, it is really wonderful how they ever survive at all, whether they had been stimulated in their culture or not. The large majority of purchasers at the nursery always select those trees which are most vigorous, notwithstanding the prejudice against stimulating the trees, and then with mutilated roots, they probably omit cutting back the limbs sufficiently, and when their neglected orchard fails, they complain of the forced trees. The change from the good cultivation of the nursery to the careless culture and even neglect of the farm, is certainly hard for the poor things to bear. Late growth, encouraged by high manuring, is injurious. There is a much more serious fault of the nursery than stimulating with manure and high cultivation, and that is the too common error of crowding the trees; but even this has its origin partly with the purchaser, who too often wishes to have his trees drawn up as high as possible; instead of demanding low heads he asks for high ones, and will sometimes offer a premium for trees that have grown in one season, the second from the root graft, eight or ten feet in a single shoot, so that he may at once calculate upon forming the head where he wants it, out of the reach of his horse; a calculation, however, which he will not realize.

The Preparation of the Soil for a nursery should be as deep and as thorough as possible, for some things it is best even to trench the ground; but generally, the thorough plowing, with a deep-tiller, or a trench-plow, will be sufficient, and if followed by the subsoil lifter, so much the better. One of the most intelligent horticulturists, and most successful nurserymen in the country, finds that he can produce a better result in depth and fineness of tilth, by using the Double Michigan plow, than he can with the spade. A piece of clover-sod thus plowed in the fall, and subsoiled at the same time, will be in fine order for nursery purposes, after a thorough cross-plowing and harrowing in the following spring. If the land has been under-drained, so much the better. There is little good land that would not be much improved for nursery purposes by tile draining.

If manure is to be applied, it may be spread upon the clover-sod before plowing, or it may be thrown upon the plowed ground at once or at any time during the winter, to be worked into the soil by the spring plowing; if composted, it may be spread just before the spring stirring.

Laying Out.—In laying out the nursery, some taste may be exercised by the planter; the sections and blocks should be distinct, and alleys should be located at convenient distances, so that all parts may be easily accessible with the wagon. The rows should be laid out straight, and they ought to be far enough apart—four feet might be a good average for nursery trees; cuttings and seedlings may, of course, be nearer. The trees should not be set too closely in the rows, one foot apart is plenty close enough for most kinds, and that is little enough room for the development of good lateral branches, or for those which have to remain three or four years before transplanting. For peaches, for dwarf pears, and indeed for any of the varieties that are to be taken from the nursery as maiden trees, a less space may be allowed—say eight inches apart. Apple stocks for budding, or for collar grafting, may be set ten inches apart, and they will have room to make very good plants, even should they remain until two years old.

Most nurserymen set out their apple grafts in the rows where they are to be grown to full size, and cultivate them from two to three years; while this saves the trouble of transplanting, the trees will not be as well assorted for size, nor will they have the benefit of the transplanting, (which will enhance their value much more than it costs, in the improved character of their roots), as have those that have been treated on the bedding plan, practiced by some nurserymen. This consists in setting the root grafts closely together, in a bed of very well prepared ground; they are covered at once with a good mulching of sawdust, which keeps the ground moist, and insures the growth of almost all the plants, while for the first season they occupy very little space, and are readily kept clean, as the mulching prevents the growth of weeds. In the fall, or in the following spring, they are taken up, assorted for size, and re-planted in the nursery-rows where they are to stand. This transplanting improves the character of their roots, which are more fibrous and shorter than in those trees which have stood three or four years without being disturbed. Purchasers, now-a-days, begin to look at the roots of their trees, as well as the tops; and it may become necessary for the nurserymen to gratify this fancy for low-headed, stocky trees, that have abundant fibres to insure their growth, and their early fruitfulness.