130 STUDIES OF TREES 



How to plant: The location of the trees with relation 

 to each other should Ije carefully considered. On the lawn, 

 they should be separated far enough to allow for the full 

 spread of the tree. On streets, trees should be planted 

 thirty to thirty-five feet apart and in case of the elm, forty 

 to fifty feet. In woodlands, it is well to plant as close as 

 six feet apart where small seedlings are used and about 

 twelve feet apart in the case of trees an inch or more in 

 diameter. An abundance of good soil (one to two cubic 

 yards) is essential with each tree where the specimens used 

 are an inch or two in diameter. A rich melloAv loam, such 

 as one finds on the surface of a well-tilled farm, is the ideal 

 soil. Manure should never be placed in direct contact with 

 the roots or stem of the tree. 



Protection of the roots from drying is the chief pre- 

 caution to be observed during the planting process, and 

 for this reason a cloudy day is preferable to a sunny day 

 for planting. In case of evergreens, the least exposure 

 of the roots is hable to result disastrously, even more so 

 than in case of deciduous trees. This is why evergreens 

 are lifted from the nursery with a ball of soil around the 

 roots. All bruised roots should be cut off before the tree 

 is planted, and the crown of the tree of the deciduous 

 species should be slightly trimmed in order to equahze the 

 loss of roots by a corresponding decrease in leaf surface. 



The tree should be set into the tree hole at the same 

 depth that it stood in the nursery. Its roots, where there 

 is no ball of soil around them, should be carefully spread 

 out and good soil should be worked in carefully with 

 the fingers among the fine rootlets. Every root fibre 

 is thus brought into close contact with the soil. More 

 good soil should be added (in layers) and firmly packed about 

 the roots. The last layer should remain loose so that it may 



