152 THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and those not so treated, would add a valuable feature to his catalogue* 

 It is obvious that the reason why trees ma^e so little growth the first 

 year after they have been set, is not so much the removal as the loss 

 of their feeding roots, which have to be replaced before the tree can 

 make a start to grow again ; and there is no reason why this check 

 should not take place before the intending planter procures the trees 

 as well as afterwards. It is well known that Evergreens are moved 

 twice and mostly three times, and there is no reason why deciduous 

 trees should not be similarly treated. Young orchards or shade trees 

 will resist almost any drought, especially if mulched ; and thus by 

 setting trees sure to grow, time, labor and money may be saved with 

 a little forethought and precaution. Everyone knows the reason why 

 young trees are more successfully moved than old ones is because they 

 have proportionately more fibrous roots left attached to them after they 

 are taken up. 



Those who have lived in a town where there is a taste for decorating 

 the streets with forest shade trees, can scarcely help having noticed 

 the number that die and have to be replaced. As a rule this misfortune 

 is caused by getting trees direct from the woods and setting them 

 along the streets without any previous root-pruning or any other 

 preparation. The wonder is that so many grow — that they do not all 

 die. I have tried several experiments in this branch of forestry, and 

 have been so successful that perhaps my personal experience may not 

 be uninteresting. Several years ago, whilst discussing the matter of 

 growing trees with a friend one autumn day, as we were passing 

 through a sugar bush, he said : " I would advise your trying to grow 

 some of these seedling maples, they will take little room, and I think 

 you will find it a success." So as we walked along together we pulled 

 up with our hands seventy-five little fellows a foot or eight inches 

 high. These I carried home, and having pruned the roots, planted 

 them in a trench thirty-five feet long, where they stood a couple of 

 years, at which time I had a nice lot of young trees four feet high. 

 These I dug up in the spring, thoroughly root-pruned, removing all top 

 roots, and planted round the inside of my garden fence. Two years more 

 gave me nice thrifty saplings as thick as my thumb and eight feet 

 high. Of course during this time I pruned off all side shoots, and I 

 found that even those that Avere crooked soon grew as straight as a 

 rush. This spring I set out along the roadside as pretty a lot of clean 



