112 PLANTING 



trees is in the late spring, when the root system has become 

 active, but before the buds have opened. The tree, then, 

 as it were, appears to make use of suppressed energy ; and, 

 on being planted, the root growth often continues its activity 

 instead of being greatly checked, and gets quickly estab- 

 lished. 



But the amount of this late planting must always be very 

 limited, for it is only during an interval of about one week 

 that these conditions prevail. 



Therefore, if a large area has to be planted, the merits 

 and demerits of autumn or ordinary spring planting must 

 be carefully considered. Though probably both autumn and 

 spring planting will be adopted, so as to equalise the pressure 

 of work. 



Now, when trees are planted in the autumn, their roots 

 get established to some extent by the time that spring 

 growth commences ; and this is a distinct advantage over 

 ordinary spring planting. Another advantage in the case 

 of evergreen trees is, that the ill-effects, which sometimes 

 result in death, caused by a hot sun in the early spring 

 inducing transpiration before the roots of spring planted 

 trees can make good the loss of moisture, will often be 

 avoided. 



Of course, this wilting may be sufficient to kill the 

 autumn planted trees, but these will have a better chance 

 of surviving than any spring planted trees, as their roots 

 will have become somewhat established. 



This wilting in early spring is fairly common in the 

 case of Silver Fir, Scots Pine, Thuya gigantea and Douglas 

 Fir. 



However, autumn planting is open to many objections, 

 amongst which the following may be mentioned : 



(1) The plants are very liable to get lifted by the 



frost. 



(2) They get swayed to and fro by the wind. 



(3) On stiff land, the holes in which the trees are 



planted tend to become water-logged, and the roots 

 of the trees may become rotten. 



