30 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



lateral roots. At the end of the first season, or certainly 

 not later than the second, the plants should be dug up. 

 This may be done very rapidly with spades, or faster and 



better with a tree digger rep- 

 resented in fig. 3. This very 

 handy implement passes under 

 the plants, cuts off the tap-root 

 if long, and at the same time 

 leaving them standing upright 

 in the row, from whence they 

 can be readily pulled up by 

 men following tiie digger, or 

 left to be taken up when want- 

 ed. Having used one of these 

 implements for many years, I 

 can speak from experience of 

 its value, especially for lifting 

 seedlings that have very long 

 and coarse tap-roots, like the 

 black walnut, hickories, and 

 similar kinds. 



After the plants have been 

 lifted, the long tap-root should 

 be shortened if it has not been 

 cut off with the digger. Some 

 of the nut trees, like those 

 mentioned above, will throvv^ 

 down a central or tap-root to 

 the depth of two to three feet 

 the first season, while the stem 

 above may not be more than a 

 foot high. Fig. 3 represents an 

 average specimen of a one-year- 

 old seedling black walnut. The 

 tap-root of such a plant should be cat off at a, and the 

 larger lateral roots going below this point either spread 

 out or shortened. 



Fig. 3. — SEEDIING BLACK 

 WALNUT. 



