December 26, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



868 



the light of informal i> in at hand, we would earnestly ad- 

 vise those of our readers who have occasion to ship either 

 by express or freight, to incorporate among their reforms 

 for the new year, some system whereby weights and 

 charges based on weight, ran be readily verified, and 

 whereby charges on prepaid packages cannot be again 

 collected at destination without the certainty of detec- 

 tion. 



ree 



Talks 



VI 



FOREST PLANTING 



In planting trees in large quantities, as in forest 

 planting, the land should be ploughed during the sum- 

 mer if possible, and the following spring marked out 

 in rows four feet apart each way, and the young trees 

 planted at the intersections of the furrows. All decid- 

 uous trees, that is, trees that drop their leaves, should 

 be planted as early as the weather will allow, which in 

 New England is usually from the last of March to the 

 middle of May; evergreens from the middle of May to 

 the first of June. The roots should be well spread and 

 planted firmly, the same as older trees. If a cultivator 

 could be run both ways between the rows four or five 

 times, each season until the end of the second season, it 

 would be of great benefit to the trees. After this the 

 trees would begin to cover the ground and further cul- 

 tivation would be unnecessary. If the land is such that 

 it cannot be ploughed, the trees may be planted in the 

 sod ground the same distance apart, merely making a 

 small hole to plant the tree in by turning over the sod 

 with a spade. 



All trees for forest planting should be small, say from 

 one to three years old. The roots of all trees, whether 

 old or young, should never for a moment be allowed to 

 become dry; and, if the weather is very dry, it is well 

 to puddle them, that is, taking a pail of water and stir- 

 ring in a few shovels of earth, making it about the thick- 

 ness of gruel, and dipping the roots of the young tree 

 into it before planting ; this keeps the roots from drying 

 up. 



CARE OF STREET TREES 



All large trees should be well watered in extremely 

 dry weather, especially those on city streets. A little 

 dash of water is no good : make a large basin around the 

 tree that will hold a half barrel or more; fill this up, 

 and as it has soaked in the ground, fill again, so that the 

 roots of the tree may be well moistened; then fill in the 

 loam and mulch around with short manure or other 

 material. A tree treated in this way will seldom need 

 more than one or two waterings during the season, un- 

 less exceptionally dry. All street trees, or, in fact, any 

 large or even small trees should be properly staked, so 

 that the wind will not have any effect upon them, and 

 also to keep them straight. Street trees need but little 

 pruning, although they are often well butchered. It is 

 true that many old trees might be in part renovated by 



pruning or cutting in the tops. ( For a treatise on this 

 subject get "Tree Pruning, by Alphonse de Caws, trans- 

 lated by Prof. C. S.. Sargent from the French, for the 

 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. ) We 

 have used this system to renovate very straggly, worn 

 out oaks in the Arnold Arboretum, and the result has 

 been good. 



TOO MUCH PRUNING 



Young or ordinarily healthy trees need but little prun- 

 ing; the thinning out of any limbs that interfere with 

 each other, or where they may be too crowded, and the 

 shorting in of any straggling limb to balance the tree is 

 usually enough. Generally there is too much tree prun- 

 ing; the tree is cut and hacked to death by. irresponsi- 

 ble persons, who will persuade you that your trees need 

 pruning whether they do or not ; and, to show how much 

 it needed it, the tree is hacked to pieces. 



In the large parks and cities there should be a nur- 

 sery for the training and growing of trees to a suitable 

 size for street planting. Select from ordinary nurseries 

 strong, finely developed young plants of the kind needed, 

 and have them trained, pruned and grown to the size 

 and shape required. 



SYSTEM IN PLANTING 



All tree planting should be under the care of an in- 

 telligent man or men, who understand their business and 

 who have the time and opportunity to study the ground 

 and surroundings; otherwise, where each abuttor plants 

 the trees he likes the best, assorting to his own taste, it 

 involves much diversity and inequality in the selection 

 of trees, both in shape and size. Each street should be 

 planted with one kind and size, as nearly as possible, and 

 at proper distances from the curbstone and each other. 

 Uniformity in this respect can be obtained only when 

 the work is done under municipal authority. This 

 method has been successful in the leading cities of Eu- 

 rope, and in Washington, which is probably the best 

 planted city in the world, where the street has been 

 graded and planted under the authority of a special 

 commission, which had faithful men who followed out 

 the plans of their leader and understood the habits of 

 the trees. If this could be followed out by other cities 

 it would be better. The great trouble is that our people 

 all have a mind of their own and do not want to be 

 subordinate to anyone else: hence so many mistakes. 



Every farmer or fruit grower has to fight insects and 

 fungus with insecticides. Eternal vigilance with them 

 is the price of success. Shade and ornamental trees 

 have their enemies as well, many of them more so, and 

 the city, town, or people who want beautiful trees will 

 have to exercise the same vigilance. 



^^^ 



Arnold Arboretum. 



