METHODS AND PRACTICE 177 



waterlogged in wet weather, and separated from the soil 

 altogether in dry seasons, when the clay cracks and 

 opens up in such a manner that the trees practically 

 hang by the collars. The alternate swelling and shrink- 

 ing of clay soils are extremely injurious to root action, 

 and check formation of new roots in recently trans- 

 planted trees to a very great extent. 



Of late years an objection to slitting has been raised 

 on the ground that the bending of the roots, which is 

 more or less associated with the method, affects the 

 development of the trees in after life. Plausible as this 

 theory is, it does not appear to be supported from careful 

 observation, apart from one or two species, Scots pine in 

 particular. Even with these, the results are not seen 

 for two or three years after planting. But with practic- 

 ally all other species slit-planting, considered as a 

 method of getting the trees into the ground, is quite as 

 satisfactory as any other, and failures are chiefly due to 

 causes already referred to. This is easily seen when 

 one considers that root twisting and bending are quite as 

 common in the nursery as in planting, and yet the per- 

 centage of deaths in nursery work is reduced to a 

 minimum, not because the trees are more carefully 

 planted, but on account of the fact that the roots are 

 surrounded by finely divided soil, from which the newly 

 made rootlets can take up water without difficulty. 

 This latter condition may be regarded as a fundamental 

 feature of success in all planting work, and whatever 

 form soil preparation, or the insertion of the trees into 

 the ground may take, the object to be aimed at is leaving 

 the roots with as much fine earth in contact with them 

 as possible. This point, of late years at least, has not 

 been sufficiently attended to by British planters, and 

 attempts to get the work done as cheaply as possible have 

 not encouraged the adoption of more satisfactory methods. 



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