July 10, 18«6. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



29 



placed and injured, and trees blown over a few times for want 

 of staking will soon be fit only for firewood. 



J*. 



The tree having been planted, watered, and the head ad- 

 jnsted by staking, the hill or cone should be sloped down all 

 round and turfed over, or sown with grass seeds, the turf taken 

 from the ground in the first instance, it is presumed, being 

 mixed with the soil as it was returned to the pit, where it will be 

 very beneficial in promoting growth. In planting trees and 

 shrubs they should not be placed lower in the soil than will 

 be sufficient to cover the uppermost roots with from 3 to 

 6 inches of soil ; in fact, the base or setting-on of the roots 

 should be nearly level with the surface, the roots radiating 

 from it at that point being spread out at a slight angle into 

 the soil. 



Fig. 4. 



By planting the trees on hills we seek to produce the same 

 effect as if the trees had sprung out of the earth naturally, 

 rising, as they invariably do, from an elevated base occasioned 

 by the rising and swelling of the collar. Though the mounds 

 may be rather high, they will sink down so as to be in a few 

 years only about half their original height ; ultimately every 

 tree so planted will rise out of a gently elevated base, and 

 this adds to the dignity of expression, without which no 

 tree can have a natural appearance, and that it must have 

 to look well. Imagine the shaft of a tree rising abruptly out 

 of a flat surface, and appearing no thicker at its base than it 

 is higher up ! There is no such thing in nature, yet such 

 trees are very common in pleasure-grounds in consequence of 

 neglect in not keeping the roots considerably higher than the 

 general surface at the time of planting. When a tree is 

 planted in a pit 2 feet or more deep, and after planting the 

 ground round it is trodden and watered, by the sinking of the 

 soil the tree will stand in a hollow after the lapse of a few 

 years. This hollow, especially in pleasure grounds, will be 

 filled up from time to time by the gardener, and the collar of 

 the tree, instead of being above the surface as it is naturally, 

 will be buried in firm soil to the depth of from 6 inches to 

 1 foot. This ruins the effect of all trees, greatly retards their 

 growth, causes or decreases the tendency to produce flowers 



and fruit, brings on discaso at the collar, and occasions the 

 death of many kinds of Coniferrc. It is better to plunt high, 

 so that after the ground in which the tree is planted has be- 

 come consolidated the mound may requiro lowering by scrap- 

 ing away some soil from the collar, so as to leavo a portion of 

 the main roots bare, than to plant low and have to add soil 

 there, producing the objectionable appearanco referred to. 



Fig. 5 represents the result of the proper mode of plant- 

 ing ; fig. 6, the result of planting a tree in loose soil and level 



with the surrounding surface ; fig. 7, the result of the latter in 

 dressed ground, showing the collar buried in the soil, retarding 

 its growth, and bringing on premature decay. 



Fig. 7. 



When a clump of trees has to be planted it may be desirable 

 to trench the whole of the ground 2 feet deep, and in that 

 case they may be planted on the level, for the soil will settle 

 equally, and cannot cause the collar to settle deeper in the 

 earth than it was when first planted. The same remarks apply 

 to trees planted to form belts, and in plantations, though it is 

 desirable even then to plant on slightly elevated ridges, the 

 trees, of course, being planted on the apex of the ridge, and 

 the underwood in the furrows. 



When trees and shrubs are planted with balls of earth ad- 

 hering to the roots it may not be desirable to plant them on a 

 raised cone, but instead of digging out a hole, and planting 

 them at such a depth as to permit of the ball being covered 

 with from 3 to 6 inches of soil, it may be as well to consider 

 whether doing so is not placing the collar lower than the general 

 surface. In all poor, dry, shallow soils, and very strong, heavy, 

 clay ground, it would be much the better to place the tree, with, 

 the ball on or but a few inches below the general surface, and 

 to place soil around, so as to form a cone, covering the ball 

 with from 3 to 6 inches of soil, and dished out at the top so as to 

 hold water. The sides of the cone so formed should be con- 

 cave rather than convex, so that the fresh soil may unite kindly 

 with the firm soil instead of cracking. Trees so planted will 

 thrive much better than those planted on the level. They look 

 much better, and grow more vigorously. 



As to the best time for planting differences of opinion may 

 exist, but that, I think, is chiefly to be attributed to different 

 soils. Where the soil is light and dry the best time to plant 

 deciduous trees is in autumn, as early as the fall of the leaf 

 will allow ; but where the soil is cold, wet, and tenacious, I 

 have found that trees planted in March succeed better than 

 when planted in autumn, especially if the winter is unusually 

 wet. Spring, a little before they start into growth, is the most 

 suitable time to plant evergreen shrubs and trees. Planting 

 in their case may also be carried out in autumn, but not until 

 growth has been perfected, and as early as possible, and then, 

 if the soil is wet and cold, it is ten to one that they will not 

 form a single fibre. 



