CHAPTER XXI 



YOUNG TREES AND SUNSTROKE 



IT is most noticeable that the stems of young trees 

 of from 8 to about 14 feet in height are apt in 

 some seasons to get much damaged, so much so 

 that the trees are rarely satisfactory for some years 

 afterwards, even if they do not die outright. The 

 mischief is usually not seen until it is too late to 

 mend matters, and is found more as a rule on young 

 trees with small heads standing out singly than 

 where they are planted amongst undergrowth or 

 in partial shade. If careful notice is taken it will 

 be found that the stems are damaged on the south 

 side, or it may be east or west of south, but never 

 on the north side, and this is directly caused by the 

 rays of the sun being too hot for the young stems to 

 bear. The trees most liable to sunstroke which 

 it practically amounts to are the Lime, Willow, 

 Horse Chestnut, Sweet Chestnut, Birch, Mountain 

 Ash, Ash, and Plane, and generally in the order 

 they are given, the softer wooded trees suffering 

 more severely than those of harder growth. The 

 Oak, Elm, and Beech are seldom much damaged 

 by the sun, though in cases of failure it will be well 

 to notice the stems and see how far the direct rays 

 of the sun are responsible for the death of the tree. 



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