TRANSPLANTATION FOR THE FARM, ETC. 169 



is priiici]);illy ii'uiik ; if wo wasli it from the grouiid v/itli sonic cave so us to 

 prcsGrvc its entire growth, we shall find this main axis of root and top lias been 

 fed by a large number of small roots threading away from it, each one con- 

 taining at its extremity an active mouth, Kow if tliis plant had been pulled 

 from the ground a large nuijority of tlicse feeders would be broken olf, and tlie 

 plant if set out again, must, as a first matter of business, heal its wounds and 

 make some more moutlis. If the plant we washed out were set out with care, 

 or if the little roots had hccn preserved by removing a cpnintity of earth along 

 witli it, the time spent in doctoring and putting out new arms would be all saved. 

 Take as a second example a tree at two years of age ; let it be, for instance, a 

 chestnut, which tends to grow a tap root of great length. ]Jy washing out with 

 some care, we find again that tlie root has grown proportionally with the top, 

 and tliat a single leader extends into the ground about as far from the surface 

 as the terminal bud of tlie leading shoot stands above the ground ; and, fur- 

 ther than this, we find the root hairs quite equally distributed over the length 

 of this root axis, gathering nourishment from a depth of eighteen inches or two 

 feet. Now, if tliis plant were taken up as trees are ordinarily, one-lialf or more 

 of the entire root system would, be sacrificed. Is it any wonder that so large a 

 proportion of transplanted trees do not survive the process? 



But all trees do not have tap roots that extend so deei)ly into tlie soil. Take 

 a soft maple, as a second example ; at two years of age under good culture the 

 stem ahove ground will be three or four feet in higlit; if the root system be 

 lifted entirely from the ground it will be found to extend over an area of twelve 

 square feet, the roots branching in every direction. Now, as the trees of this 

 growth are ordinarily taken up, about one-third of this surface is disturbed, 

 and two-thirds of the entire root system remains in the ground, and should you 

 examine with care, the active mouths of the tree would be found almost entirely 

 left in the soil. 



As the tree gets older these roots near the body become larger and al- 

 most wholly destitute of fibrous working roots, and. the feeders are far away 

 from the trunk, continually seeking fresh pasturage. So that as the tree be- 

 comes older a smaller proportion of active roots come up with it when the tree 

 is transplanted. The result is that the percentage of failures in transplanting 

 large trees is much greater than in removing small ones. 



ELISION OF EOOTS PEODUCES EXHAUSTION. 



The immediate effect of elision of a large portion of the roots of a tree when 

 the tree is dormant is not a shock to the tree, but the healing of the Avounds 

 is a draft upon the reserve vitality of the plant. AVheu there are many sec- 

 tions to heal the exhaustion in forming the granules over the fresh surfaces mav 

 be so great that if there are no fibrous roots left to begin work there is not suf- 

 ficient vitality in the tree to start out a new set of feeders, and the tree dies of 

 starvation. If the tree be removed while in full vigor of growth, and in so do- 

 ing the roots be curtailed, the result is liable to be immediately disastrous. 

 Tiie tree then experiences a double shock, that of the loss of feeders and that 

 of removal to new conditions. The leaves go on giving out moisture as rapidly 

 as ever, and soon the supply on hand gives out, the leaves become sear and the 

 tree dies of thirst. 



To understand this we must know that the sap going up the tree is pretty 

 thin, having in solution very little that nourishes the plant ; it goes up into the 

 leaves, whence the water is mostly given off and the food is left for the leaves 



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