72 FOREST COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. 



forming the work with care. When the fall is chosen, let it be as 

 early as possible, — as soou as the leaves drop. If all bruised and 

 broken roots are smoothly cut back to sound wood, the wounds 

 will callous over, and new roots push before the ground freezes. 

 Such trees, if not injured by extreme cold, will start early, and 

 make a much stronger growth the following year. 



TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



The work of transplanting evergreens had better be deferred till 

 spring. Instances occur where they are successfully moved in 

 autumn, but it is hardly advisable to try the experiment. They 

 may be transplanted later than other species, as they remain dor- 

 mant till about the first of June. When the sap moves they push 

 rapidly and make their entire growth in a few weeks, after which 

 they do little more than ripen the wood already formed. Were it not 

 for long months of exposure to our drying winter winds, during 

 which time no roots are formed to supply moisture, the fall would 

 be the preferable season for transplanting them. When the trees 

 have been repeatedly moved in the nursery, so as to form a perfect 

 mass of fibrous roots, they may be transplanted at almost any time. 

 In this case the whole system of roots, with soil attached, is sim- 

 ply transferred from one spot to another, and the tree receives no 

 shock. 



Many thousands of small evergreens are annuallj^ shipped from 

 Maine, taken directly from the pastures, that are thickl}^ seeded 

 with them, and are sent to all parts of the country, mostly to 

 nurserymen. They are thickly planted in rows, in some half 

 shady place, and grown till they are in condition to sell. These 

 trees usually cost four or five dollars a thousand. Many die the 

 first year, but when well established they may be handled with little 

 or no risk. 



PRUNING AND THINNING. 



Evergreens require little or no pruning, as they naturally take 

 the most desirable form. It is only when they are to be trained as 

 specimen trees that the nurseryman uses the knife or shears. 

 Young forest trees of any kind are likely to get very little pruning. 

 Yet the labor is less than many might suppose, and it would be 

 poor economy to entirely neglect it. 



In stocking a tract of land with trees, I would set ten times as 

 many as could grow to full size, and thin out as it might become 



