November 2S, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



707 



Tree Talks 



IV. 



CAKE OF THE ROOTS IN TRANSPLANTING 



As soon as a tree has shed its leaves it is as much at 

 rest as at any subsequent period; unless it is frozen its 

 torpor is greater at that time, because its excitability is 

 completely exhausted by its season of growth, and it has 

 had no time to recover it. If at that time the rool is 

 wounded a process of granulation will commence, as it 

 does in cuttings, and from that callus, as we call it, will, 

 in the spring, emit new roots, which will soon form 

 reservoirs from which the tree can draw its nourishment 

 from the earth. Since the roots must be wounded more 

 or less in taking up to transplant, the sooner it is done 

 after the fall of the leaf the better it would be were it 

 not for the cold, dry air of our winters. Further South 

 the fall is the best time to transplant trees, but in this 

 State, if it cannot be done before heavy frost, as early as 

 possible in the spring. 



The accidents to which the roots of transplanted 

 trees are liable are of such a kind that it is impossible to 

 prevent their being exposed to the air, sometimes for a 

 considerable period. It is, therefore, of the first impor- 

 tance to have the roots kept as moist as possible until 

 they are planted in the moist soil. Many valuable trees 

 have been lost by the drying up of the roots, especially 

 when the buds have started to grow before the trees have 

 been taken up. 



Next in importance to the selecting of a fitting season 

 is the preservation of the roots .of transplanted trees. 

 The former is of little consequence if the latter is not 

 carefully attended to. Some plants will live and suc- 

 ceed with the rudest of treatment, and bear the most 

 severe mutilation without much suffering, but these are 

 special instances of extreme tenacity of life and do not 

 affect general principles. In taking up trees it is neces- 

 sary to have every minute fibre of the roots, if possible, 

 but as this can hardly be done the trees should be lifted 

 with the least possible destruction of these important 

 organs, remembering that it is not the coarse, old, woody 

 roots by which the absorption of food is carried on, but 

 by the younger parts, especially the spongioles. The 

 soil should be carefully removed at some distance from 

 the stem of the plant, so as to insure as many young 

 roots as possible, digging well down and undermining 

 the plant, so that with a gentle pull the tree may be 

 removed without straining or stripping the roots, as is 

 often done where a spade is thrust down close to the 

 stem, and, as soon as a few roots are cut, the tree is 

 pulled out with force, which wrenches the bark and 

 strips the roots of most of their fibres. Under all ordi- 

 nary circumstances the roots will be injured more or 

 less by removal. In that case all the wounds should be 

 cut smooth with a good sharp knife, at an angle of 

 about forty-five degrees, or less. If the ends of small 

 roots are bruised they generally die back a little way, 

 then emit fresh spongioles, but the larger roots, when 

 bruised, lose much of their vitality. Their injured tis- 



sues being open to the uncontrolled introduction of 

 moisture, decay in consequence, and often become the 

 seat of disease, which spreads to parts that, otherwise, 

 would be healthy. If the wound is cut clean the vessels 

 contract and prevent an excess of water in the interior, 

 the wounds heal by granulation, formed by the living 

 tissue, and the readiness with which this takes place is 

 in proportion to the smallness of the wound. 



ROOT PRUNING 



It may sometimes be advantageous to remove large 

 roots even if not bruised, the object being to compel the 

 plant to throw out a supply of young fibres. This is a 

 common practice in nurseries where oaks or other large 

 tap-rooted plants are grown, and where large trees are 

 required to be removed, this root pruning is one of the 

 safeguards to success. The reason why cutting off a 

 portion of the principal roots causes a production of 

 fibrous roots appears to be this; the roots are produced 

 by organizable motes sent down from the stem, that 

 water if uninterrupted flows along the main branches of 

 the roots until it reaches the extremities, adding largely 

 to the wood and horizontal growth of the root, but in- 

 creasing in a very slight degree the absorbent powers; 

 but if a large root is cut off the powers of the stem 

 remaining the same, all the descending water, which 

 would have been expended in adding to the thickness of 

 the amputated parts, is arrested at the time of ampu- 

 tation, arid, unable to pass further, rapidly produces 

 granulations to heal the wound, and young spongioles 

 soon establish themselves in the surrounding soil and 

 become the points of the new active fibres. 



Eoot pruning is also of great service in promoting 

 fruitfulness in trees that fail to produce fruit on ac- 

 count of their excessive vigor. If a deep trench is dug 

 around them, at some distance from the tree, and the 

 large roots cut back, the rank growth of the tree will be 

 stopped almost immediately, and by stopping the exces- 

 sive vigor of the plants fruit buds are formed. Thus a 

 plant in sterile soil and exposed situation will flower 

 sooner and more abundantly than one in a rich and 

 shaded place. 



Arnold Arboretum. 



Coming 



The Fourth Annual Holiday and Anniversary 

 Number of Horticulture. If you have anything to 

 sell wake up. Horticulture reaches the buyers. 



HOLIDAY TRADE NUMBER WILL BE ISSUED 



December 12 — Prosperity Waits 



