62 MINNESOTA STATii HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



French origin. I noticed some of the trees were much more per- 

 fect in the rows than others, and in digging them I was careful to 

 note the character of the top and the root. I found the Virginia 

 crab and a variety we were growing under the name of Borovinka 

 were superior to anything we had. The roots of those trees struck 

 deep, and they were large, they did not have many fibrous roots, while 

 other varieties had more surface roots, and while every other variety 

 suffered considerably by what we call root-kilHng those two varieties 

 did not suffer at all. Now it might be the character of the top had 

 something to do with making a difference in the roots, but anyway 

 I would plant the trees deep. I have had the best results with deep 

 planting, and then I have overcome the difficulty about fibrous roots 

 killing out. 



A day or so ago Mr. Elliot wrote me to know about the original 

 Wealthy tree that was given to me in the fall of 1899. ^^ planted 

 it and succeeded in getting it to grow, but in planting it in the 

 orchard it was put too near the road, and we had to give it a better 

 place, and so the other day I took it up. It had grown about five 

 or six feet high and had a nice top. I was surprised to find 

 there was nothing but surface roots. I dug a large hole to get out 

 the roots and I thought I would find some large, fine roots, but it sat 

 right on the surface of the ground, nothing but surface roots. 



Mr. Emil Sahler : In my first few years' experience in planting 

 trees I was a little in the dark. Now the gentleman spoke about 

 planting trees deep. I dug holes for 150 trees I planted five years 

 ago. I dug them three feet deep and three feet across. I put in 

 eight inches of manure in the bottom and then eight inches of dirt ; 

 then on top of that I put on three more inches of manure and on 

 top of that five inches of dirt. The dirt that eame out of the bot- 

 tom of the hole did not go in at all. I managed to get some rich dirt 

 from outside to fill up the holes. Then I set my trees ten to twelve 

 inches deeper than they stood in the nursery, and I always managed 

 to put the longest and the strongest roots and the most roots to the 

 northeast for this reason ; I have always found that as the tree shades 

 the ground on the north side it is always moist, and for that reason 

 the trees that are in moist ground will root deeper. There are so 

 many roots on the south side that the ground is always dryer than 

 on the north side. 



If I had planted those trees shallow, only two or three inches 

 deeper than they stood in the nursery, the tornado that went over 

 our place would simply have laid those trees down flat on the ground. 

 Some of those trees were laid over, some on one side and some on 

 the other side. I simply straightened up those trees that were split 

 in that way and took a quarter inch .bit and bored a hole through, 

 and then I took my tree wax — which is a good thing for trees, and 

 I always keep a box in my. pocket, and when the dirt is removed 

 it will heal it up. I drew a bolt through those trees, and today vou 

 can't see the difference between those that were apparently ruined 

 and those that were not damaged at all. I would advise all tree 

 planters to plant their trees deep. I believe in deep planting. 



Mr. O. M. Lord : Fiftv-six vears ago, when a bov in the Genesee 



