BEARING AND MANAGEMENT OF TEEES. 



There is valuaLle instruction here for us all. Nurserymen know that when their 

 rows of trees are thinned out — say one-half or three-fourths removed — the remain- 

 der, instead of pushing upward, as they had done before, begin to throw out numer- 

 ous branches, the trunk thickens, and the roots spread and strengthen rapidly. One 

 season's growth, under such conditions, gives them such a hold of the ground that it 

 requires three or four times the amount of labor to remove them that it did the year 

 previous, when they stood very close. On this account such trees, although generally 

 regarded as culls, prove most successful when transplanted, and are preferred by expe- 

 rienced planters, even if they be defective in form. 



Trees rapidly grown, forced with a rich soil, and drawn up in the shade and shelter 

 of close nursery rows, are as ill-fitted to stand the shock of removal into the open 

 ground, exposed to the full force of the sun and wind, heat and cold, as are the tall 

 and slender trees that have grown up in the heart of the forest. The young trees 

 have the advantage in being more plastic: they suffer, and almost die; but the inher- 

 ent vigor of youth enables them, in many cases, to weather the storm. But even 

 where they do survive the shock, it is severely felt, and shows itself in the slow and 

 feeble growth which follows removal. 



In gardens and sheltered grounds this difficulty is of less account ; but how small 

 a number of all the trees planted enjoy the benefits of shelter ! Scarcely any one 

 dreams of nursing and hardening their trees for a period previous to their final plant- 

 ing ; and yet, in a multitude of cases, it would be a prudent and profitable course — 

 and so especially with all the more rare, valuable, and delicate trees, shrubs, and 

 plants. Even in England, where the climate is much less rigorous and changeable 

 than ours, such proceedings are recommended and practiced. In a work which we 

 noticed some time ago,* it is recommended, in planting valuable and delicate ever- 

 green trees, to plant them first in some sort of open boxes that would allow of their 

 removal, once or twice a year, from a more sheltered to a more exposed place, until 

 they would finally become sufficiently hardened to bear the exposure of their perma- 

 nent situation. 



It is quite unnecessary to multiply illustrations showing the advantages which 

 young trees derive from being reared in open situations, sufficiently exposed to admit 

 of the growth of side branches, and acquire what we call hardiness. Our nursery 

 rows are in general too close, and the trees too close in the rows ; we grow three 

 or four times too many on the ground. We are aware that it would add consider- 

 ably to the cost of the trees, to give them so much more space ; but would it not be 

 a saving for purchasers to pay one-third or one-fourth more for them ? We very 

 much fear that we shall have no very extensive reform on this head tmtil people 

 become much better informed on the subject of arboriculture — when, instead of look- 

 ing for the tallest trees in the nursery, they will look for stout, well-rooted trees, that 

 have been well exposed to the sun and air, and thus hardened and fitted to encounter 

 the trials of a removal. 



ne reason why so few good pyramidal-shaped young trees are to be found in the 



* Practical Hints on Planting Ornamental Trees, by Standkh & Noble, page 479, vol. iii. 



