ARBORICULTURE 



ARBORICULTURE 



363 



bauling. To leave a mass of earth 6 to 7 feet wide, 

 15 inches deep, is practicable with two teams and 

 ti-inch tires over hard dirt roads. Such a ball is help- 

 ful because there are more roots left undisturbed and 

 they help support the tree during the first summer, 

 iw|ii-ci.-illy if the ball is kept to the proper degree of 

 moist ure. Larger balls, 8 and 10 feet in diameter, 15 to 

 JO inches deep, can be carried only by more expensive 

 truck* with much wider wheels, and with deciduous 

 trees the advantage is slight as compared with carrying 

 a full circle of roots 30 to 40 feet wide. 



The trees are readily picked up by the trunk which is 

 protected by cushions and clasped by slats, and chains 

 t Aliened by screws. A cradle is hinged at the front axle 

 and tips the tree over in a horizontal 

 jMiwition which is necessary on account 

 i >f overhead wires and bridges. There 

 are one or two screws about 9 feet long, 

 1Yi inches in diameter. Tipping is 

 accomplished by these screws or tackle 

 or both. The roots on the lower side 

 of the tree are tied back underneath 

 the axle. 



In transport ing, the roots are wTapped 

 in straw and burlap. They can be ex- 

 posed to the air for a day without seri- 

 ous injury, as roots }/% inch in diam- 

 eter ilo not get dried out and killed 

 in that time. In passing under wires, 



329. A Urge tree removed from its place. The roots are 

 now to be wound in burlap or other material. 



the.-c can be lifted by a T-shaped pole and disentangled 

 from the branches by proceeding a few feet at a time. 

 Dangerous high tension electric wires must be handled 

 by linemen employed by the electrical company. It is 

 sometimes necessary to raise the wirea or take them 

 down and drive over them. 



In planting, the truck is drawn into the hole and 

 stopped at such a distance from the center that the tree 

 when swung over will be in the right position. The holes 

 should be made of such a depth as to keep the roots 

 as near the surface as possible. Allowance must be 

 made for the bending of the downward roots below the 

 center of the ball. The most frequent mistake is to 

 pet the tree too deep, especially the roots at the outside 

 of the ball, which will often 

 drop to the bottom of the 

 hole and be 18 inches deep; 

 whereas when dug there 

 were some at the surface, 

 some 6 inches deep and a 

 few 18 inches deep. After 

 the tree is stood up in the 

 hole by means of the tackle 

 and screws, earth 

 is packed under 

 the center by 

 packing- sticks. 

 This is difficult 

 and there are 

 liable to be air- 

 holes left va- 

 cant. A stream 

 from a hose will 

 help to wash 

 mud into these 

 spaces. It is best 

 to leave the 

 bundles of side 

 roots tied up 

 while this is going on. Before the bundles of side roots 

 are untied, the bottom of the hole should be filled up, 

 if necessary, so that these are 2 to 8 inches below the 

 surface. Spread out the side roots and cover with earth. 



Anchoring the tree is important. It is easily done by 

 three or four anchor posts 4 feet deep with a crosspiece 

 3 feet long. Wires should be put through rubber hose 

 and twisted around the tree. The tree is liable to settle, 



330. The roots wrapped, and the tree being moved on skids. 



the anchor posts move, the tree lean and require 

 straightening and tightening of the wires by further 

 twisting. 



Pruning is important, made so by cutting back the 

 tree from 2 to 8 feet all around. It is best to cut the 

 most at the apex and the least at the sides, to make the 

 shade as wide as possible. If cut back 

 to an even outline, the tree will make a 

 dense growth and look more solid the 

 first year. If the thinning-out method is 

 used, the thinning is liable to be too great 

 in the center of the tree, as it is easy to 

 reach, and the tree has to thicken up over 

 a period of four years 

 by making sprouts in 

 the center, the outer 

 branches remaining 

 thin, especially if the 

 tree is not fed and 

 watered enough. 



Wrapping the trunk 

 with straw may be 

 necessary with thin- 

 barked trees, especially 

 in warm and dry cli- 

 mates. The bark is 

 liable to dry out and 

 die on the southwest 

 side. The wrapping 

 and anchors may be removed after two years or more. 

 A mistake is often made in choosing trees within two 

 miles, whereas, the area to draw upon is over fifteen or 

 twenty miles radius which will contain much better trees, 

 the time on the road being a comparatively small item in 

 the total cost. Trees are often chosen which are growing 

 on thin or rocky soil or in swamps saturated within 6 

 inches of the surface, both giving much less amount of 

 roots than trees in a friable soil 3 feet deep. In a 

 country of hills and valleys, the best trees may often be 

 found in terraces or benches above the river bottom or 

 in the river bottom if drained to allow roots to be 3 feet 

 deep. Trees are often chosen which are too old and 

 have made a short, slow growth. It is better to move 

 a young tree 35 feet high, 12 inches in diameter, which 

 is growing 1 foot a year, than to take a tree the same 

 size, twice as old, growing 3 inches a year. The roots 

 on the latter will be longer and less flexible. Each will 

 live and grow rapidly if given favorable conditions. A 

 mistake is often made in choosing trees which are 

 crowded or in thick forests. The latter may appear to 

 have low branches. These branches are weak and 

 liable to die. Trees of species difficult to move and 

 trees about the moving of which little is 

 known are liable to be chosen. Trees 

 which move readily are those of soft wood, 

 rapid growth, usually native in moist soils, 

 as maple, elm, linden, poplar, locust, 

 catalpa, horse - chest- 

 nut, birch, apple and 

 pin oak. The follow- 

 ing are trees about 

 which less is known: 

 Pepperidge, sassafras, 

 plane, chestnut, beech, 

 tulip, white oak, black 

 oak, liquidambar, ailan- 

 thus, hickory, walnut 

 and ash. The chestnut, 



beech, magnolia, tulip tree, black oak and walnut do 

 not indicate by their behavior when small that they are 

 readily moved. It is to be presumed that the ailanthus 

 and ash are easily moved. No species has proved itself 

 impossible to move. It is merely a matter of getting 

 the right proportion of roots and top and nursing the 

 tree through the convalescence until it has reestablished 

 itself. In moving trees it may be better to move three 



