Teachers' LEAFLEt, 



643 



Hoi< to trim the roots. 



words the demand is greater than the supply. The 

 remedy is to cut back the branches to match the 

 roots as seen in the picture below. To the novice 

 this will seem like heroic plant surgery and the ex- 

 clamation is " what a waste of growth, — years will 

 be required to replace the severed parts," Such 

 will not be the result. The first important step in 

 replanting all trees and plants is to provide an early 

 and abundant root growth and the aerial growth 

 will inevitably follow. In severing the roots the 

 ends that go with the tree are often badly mangled and should be shaved 

 smooth with a knife. The smoothness is important so that the end 

 may form callouses and from the callouses new working roots will grow. 

 The hole to be dug in the earth for the roots should be large enough 

 in diameter that they may not be cramped and deep enough that when 

 the planting is completed the tree stands only an inch lower than when 

 it stood in its birthplace. In filling the soil about the roots great care 

 must be taken to have the grains of soil snuggle close about all of the 

 fine roots. To make sure of this the filling should be done in 

 three stages. After filling the first third, half a pail of water 

 should be dashed over the soil in the hole ; this washes the 

 fine soil close to the roots and also gives extra moisture. The 

 second and also the third stages are a repetition of the first. 

 In commercial planting, the trees are received from a 

 nurseryman with the roots packed in damp moss and they 

 should never be permitted to become dry. A common practice 

 is to dip the roots in mud and then throw a blanket over them until 

 planted as described above. The points given above are necessary in all 

 planting, whether of trees, vines, shrubs or perennials, and the process 

 will not be repeated when speaking of other plantings that may follow. 



Trimmed. 



SHRUBS 



Selection. The first I shall mention is the sumac. It will survive 

 the replanting if given half care. When I see the bean pole Arbor Day 

 maples either dead or in a death struggle I wish that the sumac could 

 have had the chance of the maples. It is certainly a thing of beauty 

 in the fall months when school opens. Because it is common and 

 considered as brush by the farmer is no reason why it should not 

 find a home on the school grounds. The world is too much given to 

 underrating things because they are common. It is true that its power 



