Trees Their Planting and Care 59 



at the centre or top. In Figs. 24 and 26 the dotted lines 

 illustrate where the cuts should be made. 



Pruning the Roots 



All ends of roots that are broken or injured in digging 

 should be pared with a sharp knife to facilitate the forma- 

 tion of new roots, and when large branches are cut off the 

 wounds should be painted over with some waterproof cover- 

 ing, like shellac, grafting-wax, asphaltum or linseed-oil paint, 

 to prevent decay. 



Evergreen trees are not generally pruned much at trans- 

 planting, but they will be benefited by some shortening in 

 of the end branches, cutting out all but one leader, and 

 removing any branches that are not needed to produce a 

 symmetrical form. 



Planting the Tree 



No matter how well the soil may be prepared, how fresh 

 the trees may be when received, or how well they may have 

 been prepared for planting, if the work of planting is not 

 properly done, they may fail to grow at all or grow so poorly 

 as to give little satisfaction. 



Many failures in tree-planting result from the slovenly 

 and imperfect way in which the work is done, and the 

 nurserymen are too often blamed for the failures. 



In planting, the roots of all trees should have a fine 

 mellow bed of good soil, which should be pressed firmly 

 into contact with every fibre, leaving no air-spaces around 

 any of them, and every one should be spread out in a natural 

 position and so that no two shall touch each other. Imme- 

 diately in contact with these roots good soil should be 

 very firmly pressed with the foot or a tamper, so that new 

 roots will be encouraged to start out at the earliest possible 

 moment. 



