482 STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



roots intact, and plants it as an adjunct to his home; who in transit care- 

 fully protects roots from the sun and wind with a blanket covering; who 

 straightens out every tiny fiber and packs the earth firmly about every 

 root and finally leaves the surface carefully mulched about the tree, may 

 mot be of mucii moment to the nurseryman, who, with his lightning tree 

 digger loosens a thousand trees in an hour, jerks them from the rows with 

 great rapidity, piles them upon his wagon rack, and takes them, exposed to 

 sun and wind, to the packing shed where they are handled as so many dry 

 fagots. Still I cannot but think that the intelligent ways of the amateur 

 are worth the careful consideration of the professional. 



The unit of tree-planting is the seed; it contains the tree in miniature, 

 and if is planted and the right conditions imposed, it will flourish under 

 our hands, and from my experience, I believe that the planting of these 

 units and their care is the most delightful phase of tree planting. It 

 seems a long time for us to wait from the seed to the bearing tree, or tree 

 that adorns our yard, but time passes quickly, and the tree grows rapidly, 

 and before we know it the miracle of growth is accomplished. 



In 1878 I planted a thousand yearling trees of Austrian and Scotch 

 Pines, Black Alder, European Larch, American Elm, "White Ash, White 

 and Sugar Maples. In five years I was giving to my neighbors the thin- 

 nings of the plantation, for ornamental plantings about their dwellings. 

 In a decade, I was furnishing the best of roadside trees for the highway in 

 our road district. Year before last we built a house in the midst of this 

 grove and today the trees are as high as the dwelling. 



This simply illustrates how quickly we can begin at the very foundation 

 of tree life and secure results that are not only delightful, but may be 

 remunerative. Some one may suggest that if we all do this the poor 

 nurseryman will have no chance for his life; but I have no expectation of 

 converting communities to my way of thinking, or this way of doing, but 

 the rather, to whet the appetites of the many to inquire after and secure 

 the products of the nurseryman. 



The planting of trees presupposes the digging of them, and it is to this 

 matter of digging that I desire to call your special attention for a moment. 

 Care here is of the greatest importance, and I have found it almost impos- 

 sible to make an ordinary workman understand the value of preserving 

 roots in living trees taken from the ground. I learned an important 

 lesson in methods while studying the careful management of experts in 

 the removal of the large elms at Chicago. In these cases it is desirable 

 that the whole top of the tree remain unchanged, and that the balance 

 between top and root may be perfectly preserved. The importance of 

 preserving the root system is emphasized. Each trunk root with all its 

 divisions and subdivisions is taken out with the utmost care and wound 

 up in canvass to avoid any abrasion in transit. The orders to workmen 

 are imperative, that no roots shall be lost that can possibly be saved by 

 this method. Great trees two feet in diameter and sixty feet in height 

 are removed for miles, and continue their growth as if they had not been 

 moved from their home. 



What is true of the necessity of care and intelligent handling of great 

 trees is just as true of smaller ones. The rule is of general application. 

 It is the carelessness in digging trees that is very largely responsible for 

 the great percentage of loss in transplantation. 



We perhaps ought not to blame the nurseryman for using the same 

 implement in the same way, to dig a row of Talman Sweets, the roots of 



