THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 395 



does not matter ^vllethcl• f:ill or spring Lc clioscn. It is a question merely of 

 convenience, l^iit when they are removed from nursery grounds and subjected 

 to tiie delays and exposures inseparable from systematic business routine; when 

 the roots are shortened and crowded together in packages made as small as 

 possible so as to avoid unnecessary expense in their transit, — then we have to 

 determine whether ])lants so circumstanced stand a better chance of life than 

 those transplanted in the si)ring. 



One of the chief reasons assigned as to why fall planting is preferable to 

 spring planting is, that in the fall, the soil being warm and the roots having 

 an opportunity to grow, they become in a degree established and to that extent 

 prepared to hold tlieir own against the possible or probable droughts of the 

 succeeding spring or summer; whereas in spring transplanting, they are 

 plunged into a cold water-soaked soil ; the leaves are precipitated before root 

 growUi commences by the air being warmer than the soil and so tlie plants suf- 

 fer from the fact that the roots cannot supply the demands of the leaves. 



Why not transplant evergreens in the fall? Is not the soil as warm for them 

 as for deciduous trees? Is not the ground as cold for them in the spring? Be- 

 cause, it is answered, evergreens are never at rest. Their leaves are always at 

 work and so consequently are their roots. But this would seem a very good rea- 

 son, agreeably with the above theory, why they should be transplanted in the 

 fall since as they are never at rest, they would the sooner form new roots in the 

 warm soil of fall than in the cold soil of spring. The reverse is known to be 

 the fact. 



It is recommended not to transplant in the fall until the leaf has fallen, or 

 is ready to fall, and the plant has prepared itself for its winter's rest. Do the 

 roots of trees, etc., continue to grow after this period? Is the root active after 

 the top ceases action? Up to the time that the ground becomes hard frozen, 

 yes ; afterward, no ; unless the roots descend to a depth beneath the action of 

 frost. But the roots of nursery trees prepared for shipment never do, and 

 the check which the tree undergoes from the time of being dug up in the nur- 

 sery to the time it is reset in its final quarters, is sufficient to arrest all root ac- 

 tion for the rest of the fall or at least until freezing weather would, in any 

 event, prevent further development. 



Suppose we make a cutting of any hardy plant, — strike it in late September, 

 plant it out in late October. Without protection, as a rule, this plant will be found 

 dead in the spring. The roots are too tender to endure the rigors of winter. 

 It is so with transplanted trees. The fibrous root-growth which may be induced 

 by the warmth of late fall or by mild periods during midwinter, being near the 

 surface, cannot stand a zero temperature that may immediately follow — and the 

 result is that the tree is weakened by just the amount of nourishment required 

 to produce those fibrous roots. 



In the question as to whether it is better to transplant in fall there is but one 

 thing to be considered. Will the transplanted tree be injured by the ])robable 

 severity of the ensuing winter? If tliey are trees that are never injured by 

 twenty or thirty degrees below zero — never injured by freezing to-day and thaw- 

 ing to-morrow, plant in the fall. That a tree with its roots cut back as they 

 are for shipment, is as well able to endure the effects of severe winters as one 

 that has its roots entire, is an absurd supposition. But the spring-transplanted 

 tree has its roots shortened the same? True, but the winter is passed and 

 spring-time, its natural growing season, is at hand. It is essential, certainly, 

 that trees and shrubs should be removed in early spring before a bud has swollen. 



