On Planting!. 3^5 



"^ 



warm, and before vegetation is entirely suspended, we enable them 

 to start oft' early in the spring, and fortify them against the baneful 

 effects of summer drought. Injuries to the roots heal much more 

 rapidly in October than they do in jMarch or April ; and by being 

 placed out singly some time before they are assailed by the rigours 

 of winter, the young plants become more acclimatized, and their sap 

 vessels gradually harden. The treading and poaching of the land 

 also is reduced to a minimum, and the soil enjoys for a time all the 

 benefits of a complete aeration. The risk of moving is much less, 

 than during the winter, when a sudden change of weather often 

 suspends the operation for weeks, and the plants are kept in a 

 transition state, technically termed " bedding in," — to await what is 

 not nnfrequently a remote opportunity of being settled in their new 

 abode. 



In selecting trees for planting in particular localities we are too 

 apt to " o'erstep the modesty of nature," and place them in situations 

 utterly unsuited to their habits and requirements. Immediate loss 

 and largely increased future expense is the result. It is well known 

 that all plants require alkalies in the soil in a greater or less degree. 

 j\Iarls and clays are generally rich in these alkalies, which enter 

 largely into the composition of the deciduous trees. Upon such soils 

 these trees are found in the greatest abundance, and in the most 

 vigorous state of growth ; while in elevated regions, whose thin soils 

 are more sparingly supplied with the alkalies, the pine and fir tribes 

 luxuriate. 



Trees, being largely dependent upon the atmosphere for their 

 sustenance, will flourish in many places where the corn plants dwindle 

 and die. By a comparison of the quantities of inorganic matter left 

 by the straw of corn and the wood of trees, it is seen that while 

 1,000 lbs. of ordinary oat straw yields 60 lbs. of ashes, the same 

 weight of poplar wood gives only 20 lbs., willow 4i lbs., and oak 

 only 2 lbs. Again, the leaves of trees are richer in inorganic matter 

 than the trunks and branches : thus 1,000 lbs. of pine wood gives 3 lbs. 

 of ashes, while the same weight of its leaves will yield from 20 to 

 30 lbs. In elm, the proportions are 19 lbs. from the wood, as against 

 120 lbs. from the leaves. 



Trees, by penetrating the soil to a great depth, bring up substances 

 in which the surface soil is often very deficient, and afterwards 

 deposit them by their annual fall of leaves. The trees, however, 

 differ widely in their fertilizing effects upon the land. After a crop 

 of spruce or beech the land may be said to be impoverished : after 

 Scotch fir it is not improved : while after a crop of ash the improve- 

 ment is very perceptible. Oak, especially during tlie latter years of 

 its growth, has a marked influence for good upon the soil, as its leaves 



