238 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



When root-hairs are exposed to the air they at once begin to lose mois- 

 ture and as the moisture dries away, their vitality diminishes proportion- 

 ately. It is upon these delicate little organs that the life of a tree de- 

 pends, and its growth and vigor is propoitionate to their activity and 

 numbers. Yet one would scarcely believe that there was anything deli- 

 cate about the roots of trees, to see the way they are exposed by some 

 planters. 



Heeliug-iu aud Covenug 



From the time trees leave the nursery row until they are permanent- 

 ly planted, they should be exposed just as little as possible. They should 

 never be left open to sun or wind or air, when it can at all be avoided. 

 Trees should not be laid out while holes are dug, nor under ordinary 

 circumstances should those for a whole row be laid out at one time. 

 Trees waiting for planting should be heeled-in with moist earth about the 

 roots, and only taken out of the ground when actually needed for setting. 

 To save time when planting, trees may be placed in a wagon and covered 

 with wet straw or fertilizer sacks. As the planting proceeds, the trees 

 can be taken singly from the wagon as wanted. This treatment just out- 

 lined stands in striking contrast to the plan, or lack of plan, where tree 

 roots are exposed for hours to the injurious effects of the sun and wind. 

 Moreover, the success as shown by vigorous living trees will stand in 

 striking contrast to the results of the planting where trees are not care- 

 fully cover. 



Transplaiitiug Seedlings 



If a tree could be taken out of the ground without the loss of root- 

 hairs, it could be transplanted without dropping a leaf. If it were plant- 

 ed in as good a soil as that from which it was taken, the tree would never 

 know that it has been transplanted. The loss of trees in transplanting is 

 largely in proportion to the loss of root-hairs. It is possible with careful 

 handling to prevent exposure, to transplant thousands and thousands of 

 seedlings without the loss of a single tree. The larger the tree to be 

 transplanted, the necessarily greater loss of root surface; yet, with care, 

 large trees may be moved even in summer without the loss of foliage. 



Transplanting Large Trees. 



Last July, to make place for a new building, my foreman trans- 

 planted a large and valuable evergreen without the loss of a single cone. 

 He first soaked the ground thoroughly about the roots to make the earth 

 cling to them; then he dug a great circle about the tree and undermined 

 it. raising it out of the hole on timbers, and carefully skidded it to a 

 new hole dug to receive it. The crevices were carefully packed in with 

 earth and the hole filled and leveled up to the surface. The ground was 

 kept moist about the tree, and as the root-hairs were never exposed, 

 the tree showed not the slightest inconvenience from this transplanting. 



