140 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



that a stub-pruned tree develops a many 

 tap rooted system, while a long-rooted 

 tree forms a surface system of roots. 

 They also claim economic advantages in 

 digging and packing the trees, in trans- 

 portation, and in planting. 



An experiment was begun in 1896 and 

 •continued until 1899 on heavy clay land 

 at the experiment station, and on light, 

 sandy loam at Seaford, Delaware, to de- 

 termine the merits of stub-pruned, 

 three inch, and six to eight inch rooted 

 apple, pear, peach, and plum trees; also 

 to study some of the jJrinciples of root 

 formation. 



Sixty-two and one-half per cent of the 

 stub-pruned trees lived on the heavy soil, 

 86 per cent on the light soil; 97 per cent 

 of the three-inch trees lived on the heavT 

 soil, 100 per cent on the light soil; 87 '-j 

 per cent of the eight-inch trees lived on 

 the hea\T soil, 94 per cent on the light 

 soil. 



Twenty-two per cent of the stub-pruned 

 trees made first-class trees on the heavy 

 ■soil; 51 per cent on the light soil. 



Fi^. 1. No. 1 the Stringfellow Tree I'runed. 

 No. 2 the many tap-rooted tree that is sup- 

 posed to develop from it. 



The roots of the stub-pruned trees did 

 not take a more downward direction 

 than others. 



New roots arise from the ends of pruned 

 roots, from fibrous roots, from adventi- 

 tious buds at the base of the tree, and 

 sometimes from the sides of the larger 

 roots. They arise most easily from the 

 smallest roots. Shortening the roots in- 

 <luces a development of adventitious 

 roots which may compensate the tree tor 



the loss of its smaller feeders. A long 

 root is useful to a transplanted tree main- 

 ly to anchor it in the soil while the 

 new roots are forming. Fibrous roots 

 may be of importance to a transplanted 

 tree in that the earliest feeders are de- 

 veloped from them. The vitality of the 

 fibrous roots is not destroyed where trees 

 are carefully handled. 



The direction which the new root sys- 

 tem assumes is governed by the char- 

 acter of the soil, by the distribution of 

 plant food and moisture in it, and by the 

 natural habit of the tree. The roots seek 

 the strata of most congenial moisture 

 and accessible plant food. 



Stub-pruned trees are at a disadvan- 

 tage on heavy soils, on soils that freeze 

 deeply throughout the winter, in a dry 

 fall or spring, or in soils that are slow 

 in warming. 



Stub-pruned trees, with branches 

 shortened to correspond, frequently de- 

 velop a onesided root system and an in- 

 formed top. 



The stub-pruning system is not founded 

 on principles of plant growth. It is a 

 practice with merit in local conditions. 

 The claims for the system are based upon 

 a succession of misconceptions of the laws 

 of plant growth. The advocates have in- 

 duced a careful study of the development 

 of the roots of plants, and therein lies 

 its value as a contribution to horticul- 

 tural knowledge. 



Care of Trees from >'iirsery to riantiiie 

 Time 



After goods leave the delivery yards 

 of the nurseryman they are beyond his 

 control. He has no legal right to dictate 

 the care his stock shall receive. The 

 best he can do is to advise the planter, 

 and when this advice is not solicited it 

 places the nurseryman in the rather awk- 

 ward position of presuming on the intel- 

 ligence of the planter; yet, if any mis- 

 fortune overtakes the planter in his hor- 

 ticultural venture, the nurseryman is 

 likely to receive the blame. 



After 23 years of experience in the 

 Rogue River valley, the writer is thor- 

 oughly convinced that if the losses due 

 to the planter's inadequate knowledge. 



