30 AMERICAN HANDBOOK 



and thin ; others branch and re-branch in 

 every direction. So it is with their roots. 

 The sour-gum throws out a few strong roots, 

 scarcely making a single fork; while the 

 linden throws out an abundance of rootlets 

 in every direction. If we attempt to take 

 up a specimen of the former by the common 

 practice, that is, by opening a trench but a 

 few feet from the trunk, we find that though 

 we may have a great many roots, we have 

 very few or no fibres. They are left with 

 the roots in the ground, at their extremities. 

 Such a tree is reduced to the condition of a 

 mere cutting, and without the treatment pro 

 per for a cutting, cannot grow. Trees taken 

 up by the same mode, that have an abund 

 ance of branching roots, are more likely to 

 have fibres near the stem, and so succeed. 

 This constitutes the chief difference between 

 a tree that will &quot;remove easily&quot; and one 

 which will not. 



10. It should be an early inquiry whether 

 a tree proposed to be transplanted have the 

 above-mentioned conditions of success or 

 not. A tree from a nursery has been trans 

 planted when very young, perhaps several 



