QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



175 



the same in diameter, but of course not so high, which I want 

 to transplant. If you can give me any advice as to how this 

 work should be done, I would greatly appreciate it. They 

 have to be moved within the next couple of weeks, and I would 

 like to know about how far from the trunks these roots should 

 be cut, and whether it is advisable to take the trees up now with 

 " whatever dirt that would adhere to the roots, or dig a ditch 

 around and wait for a ball to freeze, putting manure and other 

 protective material in the ditch as a protection from frost for 

 the ends of the roots. C. H. S., Noroton, Connecticut. 



A. It is not a very easy matter to transplant arbor-vita? 

 trees as old as yours, but with proper methods and care it 

 can be done with a great degree of safety. These trees should 

 be moved with an unbroken ball of soil at least 8 feet in diameter. 

 It would be necessary to dig a trench around the trees about 

 five feet from the trunks and then, in lifting the trees, barricade 

 the ball so that it will not break in the process of transplanting. 

 Messrs. Isaac Hicks and Sons, of Westbury, Long Island, N. Y., 

 and Messrs. Louis and Valentine, Roslyn, Long Island, make a 

 specialty of moving trees of that size, and if you write to them 

 about it I am sure they can do the work in a most satisfactory 

 manner. The white birch about 30 feet high is a more risky 

 proposition to transplant at this time of the year, and I doubt 

 very much whether you can save it. The maple and the chestnut 

 can be moved in the same manner as the arbor-vita?. It is too 

 bad if these trees have to be moved at the present time, for if 

 the work could be postponed to the early spring it would be a 

 far more ideal time to do it. 



Q. I desire some information regarding trees. On a farm 

 near here trees will not grow. The people have tried several 

 kinds, but all die off in no time. The soil is sandy. Long ago 

 the valley was a lake. There is about three inches of real loam 

 on the top and all the rest down is sand. Water is reached at 

 from eight to ten feet. Terrific storms sweep over the valley 

 both in summer and in winter. Farmers in that valley would 

 like to plant trees as a wind-break and also to make the home 

 look better. The winters are very cold and the sand is cold in 

 winter, spring, and autumn. One farmer who has heard that 

 certain chestnut trees stand cold well has thought of planting 

 some. Now can you tell me what trees would be good for that 

 kind of conditions? The soil seems to lack humus or something, 

 for no matter how much you fertilize, it does not seem to decay 

 and mix with the soil at all. M. S., Greeley, Colorado. 



A. I do not see why trees that thrive in the region about 

 Greeley should not succeed on the farm you mention. The 

 honey locust, especially the thornless variety; the hackberry, in- 

 cluding the common hackberry and the Mississippi hackberry ; the 

 black locust, the green ash, and, where it is possible to supply 

 water for the first few years, the American elm, are the trees 

 that we suggest for this part of the country, and they seem 

 usually to succeed. Have you tried any of these? If you have, 

 and they have failed, there must be some other unusual local 

 condition that is the cause of the difficulty. Soil of the character 

 you describe needs the addition of all of the organic matter that 

 it is possible to incorporate with it. 



Q. Your December number suggests fertilizing with well- 

 rotted manure the soil about trees requiring nutriment. This I 

 have tried, but with, in my opinion, very poor results excellent 

 to the surface soil but distinctly questionable as regards the 

 trees themselves. It is difficult by this means to penetrate through 

 the sub-soil to the fibrous roots, whereas if holes were bored with 

 a sharp crowbar, working the bar when driven, making the 

 aperture larger at the ground surface, and the holes driven 

 a few feet inside of the greatest circumference of the branches 

 and these filled at the season with a proper fertilizer, infinitely 

 better results should be obtained; but the question arises, what 

 combination should be used? I have asked various authorities 

 and all suggest something entirely different from the other one 



even suggesting Rochelle salts, which he has used with wonderful 

 results. I would much appreciate any suggestions you might offer 

 in this connection, as I have many white pines, oaks, maples, and 

 elms that require drastic treatment, if they are to be saved. 

 Would you think well of cow manure, ground bone-meal, and 

 phosphates mixed in suitable proportion? 



H. F. G. W., Rye, New York. 

 A. My idea of fertilizing trees with well-rotted manure. is 

 to dig a trench from two to four feet wide around the tree 

 at a distance of four to six feet from the trunk. The trench 

 should be about two feet deep and filled with one-third well- 

 rotted manure and two-thirds good soil. Then I would place 

 manure in narrow trenches running like the spokes of a 

 wheel and radiating from the main trench toward the trunk. I 

 have done this for twelve years to the trees in Prospect Park, 

 Brooklyn, of which I have had charge for that period, and also 

 to many of the trees in New York City, and always found this 

 method to work well. My idea in using manure rather than 

 commercial fertilizer is to supply the roots not only with plant 

 food, but also to make that particular part of the soil serve as 

 a mulch for the retention of moisture. After a while the roots 

 penetrate into this new rich layer and form many new fine 

 fibrous rootlets, and this is exactly the kind of action intended 

 to stimulate by digging the trench and practically root pruning 

 many of the large roots. I have even carried this sort of work 

 to valuable evergreens, such as cedars and pines, by the thousands 

 on 60 or more of the largest estates on Long Island. On Mr. 

 C. Oliver Iselin's estate we have treated a whole cedar hill of 

 large extent in this way. The idea of using commercial fertilizer 

 such as bone-meal, phosphate, muriate of potash, etc., is very 

 serviceable in many cases, but more to stimulate growth rather 

 than to produce a permanent improved condition of the sur- 

 rounding soil. I have used the commercial fertilizers in very 

 large quantities, even this fall, but in each case with special 

 care and for a special purpose. 



Q. I have had a granolithic walk laid close by a line of fine 

 elm trees. The work was done some years ago, and in order to 

 get a suitable foundation, many elm roots were cut away. Since 

 that time many small branches of these trees have died, and I 

 suppose on account of the loss of roots. Can anything be done 

 to preserve the trees now? B. P., Brunswick, Maine. 



A. The death of small branches on the elm trees is very 

 likely due to the earlier cutting of the roots. Perhaps when larger 

 roots were cut they were not covered with coal tar and have in 

 consequence started to decay. This would be a very difficult 

 condition to overcome at this time, except by exposing these 

 wounds and treating them. If decay did not set in, then the 

 best thing to do is to dig in well-rotted manure around the ends 

 of the roots, especially on that side of the tree where there is a 

 chance for new rootlets to form. This will stimulate root forma- 

 tion. The trees are very likely also suffering from drought, and 

 thorough cultivation and watering of the ground around the 

 base of the trees to a distance of at least eight feet from the 

 trunks in the summer months would do much to keep many 

 of the branches alive. 



Q. Can you tell me what a concrete storage house for a 10- 

 acre nursery would cost and how large it would be? I would 

 also like to know how many apple, peach, and pear trees can be 

 grown to the acre in the nursery row. All I care for is the 

 approximate number. A. H. H., Detroit, Michigan. 



A. Replying to your inquiry relative to a concrete storage 

 house for a 10-acre nursery, I would say that it would cost from 

 $500 up, but the best thing you can do is to get quotations from 

 firms specializing in this sort of work. 



Apple and pear trees should be planted twenty to twenty-five 

 feet apart, in alternate rows, with about twelve feet between the 

 rows. Plant peach trees about ten feet apart. I am sending 

 you a bulletin on fruit cultivation. 



