INDIANA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. , 285 



around the roots. The tree should be set a few inches deeper than it grew 

 in the nurserj^ The excavation should be filled completely and mulched 

 over with rotten straw or sawdust to prevent too rapid evaporation. 



The better time to plant, I conscientiously believe, is early spring, and 

 that stock which is to be shipped may be on hand at the first favorable 

 time to plant, it should be procured the previous fall and heeled in over 

 the winter, which, if properly done, will add much to the successful life 

 of the tree. 



The size of the tree has much to do with the success of living. It is 

 a sad mistake to plant directly a tree of two or three inches in diameter 

 and of six or eight years' growth. There seems to be a prevailing opinion 

 that the larger the tree planted the quicker it will form shade. Unless 

 such trees have been given a process of prunings and transplantings to 

 establish their form and root system, a far greater and earlier degree of 

 result will be obtained by planting smaller ti-ees. For good success in 

 direct planting I recommend that not over three or four-year-old trees 

 be planted. Trees of these sizes, carefully dug and planted, gi-ow from 

 the beginning and form perfectly. The sacrifice necessarily made to the 

 root system in digging these larger trees and the stumping of the top 

 which is usual and necessary to do, "is a shock from which it takes several 

 years to recover and impairs the physiology of the tree and thus makes it 

 a victim incapable of resisting tree diseases. 



You can always get good trees from the reliable nursery firms, but 

 should you not desire to purchase them you can find them abundantly in 

 forests, thickets and fence rows throughout the State. You can make 

 them what you want by treating them to transplanting processes in your 

 gardens, though time is eliminated by purchasing from nursery firms in 

 which it is a business well done. 



The pruning of shade trees, I believe, is a thing largely overdone. At 

 planting, the top should be pruned to accord with the root system, l)ut 

 after that I am an advocate of the motto, "Hands Off!" Except the clip- 

 ping of stray branches, sapping sprouts and affected parts, nature will 

 form a better tree than all the ingenious devices of the tree trimmer. I 

 do not believe there is any more justness in the extreme surgical treat- 

 ment of trees than there was in the past extreme surgery to which the 

 human race was subjected. 



The rural communities are better in these respects than are the cities. 

 Better shade trees are found in the country, both of form and condition. 

 This is largely due to the better moisture conditions and the fewer sub- 

 jections to injury, but a great amount of it is due to the "let alone" 

 treatment. 



The street paving injury to shade trees is perhaps one of the most dam- 

 aging of all. By it the trees are deprived of roots, rooting chances and 

 moisture. Street improvement is an extensively expanding movement 

 now. By the plan usually employed a wall of adamant is placed on both 



