92 SHADE-TREES IN TOWNS AND CITIES 



Work in the fall is most successful when the following 

 winter is mild and a heavy mulching of manure is placed on 

 the ground at the base of the tree. One of the dangers of 

 fall-planting is the upheaval of the tree by the freezing and 

 the thawing of the ground. 



It is seldom that trees planted in the fall make new roots 

 before the ground freezes. In the meantime the evaporation 

 of moisture from the trunk and branches goes on ; the roots 

 likewise suffer, so that the tree is not in so good a state as 

 if it had been allowed to remain in the nursery and trans- 

 planted in the latter part of March or early April. At that 

 time it would be perfectly healthy; and, as growth would 

 begin, new roots would start to form. Of course, there is 

 danger in spring-planting of the unfolding leaves making 

 too great a draft on the roots for sap and moisture that is 

 not always supplied by rain. Artificial watering is then 

 necessary to carry the tree over the critical period of trans- 

 planting, which at best is a severe shock to the tree. 



Experience has shown that trees planted in the fall, if 

 they come up in the spring at all, grow very slowly, unfold- 

 ing their leaves later than trees of the same stock coming 

 from the same nursery planted in the following spring. 

 While a good deal depends on weather conditions, it may 

 be said that the fall is not a bad season to plant, but the 

 spring is a much better one, provided the trees are planted 

 before the buds begin to swell. Certain trees which have 

 succulent roots, like the tulip-tree, sweet gum, and mag- 

 nolias, cannot be transplanted successfully in the autumn 

 at all. 



The difficulty in spring-planting is that the season is 

 very short. Everybody is rushed, and trees are sometimes 

 not handled so carefully as the longer fall -planting season 



