Shipped nursery stock should be un-
f ^Sto k"* packed as soon after it reaches the farm

as practicable. Careful inspection of all
nursery stock shipped in, is advisable upon notice of
arrival. State fruit inspectors are very careful about
this and help our orchardists very materially at such
times, protecting them from receiving diseased or un-
healthy, unworthy stock. Reliable nurserymen will
always see that such undesirable stock does not leave
the nursery, but careful inspection is advised at both
ends of the line.
When the nursery stock is received on

. "^t,'"^ the farm some little time before it is to

in irees

be used, we must either heel it in out
of doors, or keep it in a cool cellar with roots packed
in some moist sawdust, moss or straw. In either case
the trees should be removed from the large bundles in
which they are packed for shipment so the roots may;



Orchard Culture under Irrigation 239

be more thoroughly separated and therefore better
protected by permitting the roots to come in contact
with moist earth when heeled in. If exceptionally dry
bury the entire tree in well-moistened soil, until origi-
nal growing conditions be restored.
The planting season can usually begin
Planting ^^ ^^'""^ ^^ frost is out of the ground, and

the soil is sufficiently mellow to handle
well. As a general rule it is best to plant an orchard
either in square, rectangular, or the hexagonal sys-
tem of setting trees. By the former you can cultivate
both ways and move machinery about in the orchard
with greater ease and freedom ; by the latter you can
get more trees to the acre a given distance apart.
Diagrams fully explain these methods.
