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their root -system is better prepared for transplanting. Rapidly 

 growing trees, although giving shade soonest, are mostly short- 

 lived and become the soonest unsightly. Trees from the forest have a 

 wide-spreading root-system, which is difficult to take up and trans- 

 plant. Those which have grown in the shade of the forest, as a rule, do 

 not start easily in the open sunlight; those from the cool north sides are 

 apt to sicken when placed in hot exposures, and vice versa. A healthy 

 tree transferred from poor soil into better conditions will show itself 

 grateful by vigorous development. If forest trees must be used, it is 

 better to select those growing on the edges and thus most isolated, 

 because they have already learned to protect themselves by growing 

 heavier bark. If trees growing in thick woods are taken up they are 

 almost sure to die, no matter how much care is given them, because 

 they are accustomed to protection from surrounding trees and brush. 



Do not try to transplant very large trees. Trees of any size can be 

 successfully transplanted; but in proportion to the size grows the 

 difficulty, the 

 amount of work, 

 and the care 

 necessary. As a 

 rule the largest 

 size should not 

 exceed two to 

 three inches in 

 diameter at the 

 base and ten to 

 fifteen feet in 

 height. Those 



one half that size will probably make better growth, because less of 

 their root-system will be curtailed in taking them up for transplanting. 

 A tree suitable for transplanting should have (a) an abundance of 

 fibrous roots (b) in a normal form, and (c) a well proportioned devel- 

 opment of shaft and crown. 



THE WORK OF TRANSPLANTING 



Transplanting is an artificial process, requiring both knowledge and 

 care. If there is a skilled tree-planter in the neighborhood, interest 

 him in Arbor Day; take his advice about the better trees to plant first 

 and their location, and get him to see that roots and branches are prop- 

 erly pruned, that the holes are of the proper size and depth, that the 

 soil is filled in around the roots as it should be, and that the tree is 

 properly protected. If he will let the older pupils assist him in doing 

 the actual work, and afterward talk to them in a simple, direct way 



