Shade Trees for Prairie Cities. 



17 



When to Plant. 

 Trees should be planted in the spring 

 as soon as the ground is thawed out. 

 At this time the sap will just have begun 

 to flow and the tree will immediately 

 send out new roots. Moreover this is 

 about the time when the rainy season 

 begins and the trees are likely to be 

 sufficiently watered. There is very 

 good reason why trees set in the fall 

 do not live through the winter. When 

 a tree is transplanted the roots cannot 

 be put into such close contact with the 

 soil as they had before the tree is lifted, 

 and the wind blowing the tree back 

 and forth all winter tends constantly 

 to loosen the roots. Hence the tree 

 cannot take moisture from the soil. In 

 prairie regions the air in the winter is 

 very dry, and much moisture is evapor- 

 ated from the trees. This moisture not 

 being replaced through the roots, the 

 tree dies. 



How TO Plant. 



Trees should be planted in well 

 drained soil. They cannot thri\'e in 

 land constantly saturated in stagnant 

 water. The hole for the tree should 

 be dug much wider and much deeper 

 than just sufficient to take in the roots. 

 The soil with which such hole is after- 

 wards filled will conserve moisture 

 better and allow the roots to spread 

 better than the hard unbroken ground. 

 In this dry climate the hole should be 

 filled with water two or three times, 

 the water being allowed to soak into 

 the ground. 



Enough good rich earth should be 

 brought to the side of the hole to fill 

 it in setting the tree. Any good farm 

 soil is sufficiently fertile for trees. Soil 

 brought from a field where a good crop 

 of wheat has been raised will serve the 

 purpose. 



In setting the tree fill up the hole 

 with good earth sufficiently so that the 

 tree will stand about two inches lower 

 than in the nursery. Then set in the 

 tree, throw some earth over the roots. 

 Shake the tree up and down. Work the 

 soil carefully under and around the 

 roots with the hand. Throw in a little 

 more earth and tramp it down. Then 

 take a good pounder, and, as the hole 

 is being filled up, pound the earth most 

 thoroughly. About a foot and a half 

 awav from the tree leave a depression 



to hold water. Do not throw water 

 into the hole while filling it in, but 

 after the tree is set water thoroughly. 

 In a dry time water thoroughly every 

 three or fotir days after sundown. 



Where to Get Trees. 



Native trees can, of course, be ob- 

 tained from the woods, though such 

 trees are likely to be costly as they 

 require much time to get them, and 

 they do not live so well as nurserv 

 grown stock. Forest grown trees are 

 likely to have a few long slender roots, 

 each \\\ih a bunch of fibrous roots at 

 the end which will probably be cut off 

 in lifting the tree. Nursery stock is 

 transplanted in the nursery and this 

 transplanting causes the roots of a tree 

 to become a compact mass of fibres. 

 Nursery stock obtained from the United 

 States is likely to be tender. If trees 

 are obtained from a nursery they should 

 be purchased from the Canadian North- 

 west. 



In getting a tree from the woods, it 

 is advisable to take along a piece of 

 burlap. This should be dipped in water 

 in the woods and as soon as the tree is 

 lifted it should immediately be placed 

 upon the burlap and the burlap wound 

 carefully about the roots. Whether 

 trees are obtained from the woods or 

 the nursery, the roots should not be 

 allowed to become dry for a single 

 moment. It is better to select a tree 

 grown in the open. Trees much shaded 

 in the woods are likely to prove tender 

 when planted in the city. Before the 

 tree is lifted it is well to mark it on the 

 north or south side so that it can be 

 placed in the same position with regard 

 to the points of the compass as it held 

 in the field or woods. 



Broadleaf trees should be trimmed. 

 It is not necessar\- to cut the tree down 

 to a pole. Parts of the larger branches 

 should be left to give the tree a shapelv 

 head. Branches removed entirelv 

 should be cut close to the trunk or the 

 branch on which they are borne. 

 Wounds should be made vertically or 

 so that they will face the ground. They 

 should be left as smooth as possible 

 and should be covered with lead paint. 



Subsequent Treatment. 

 Constantly cultivate the soil around 

 the tree until the end of August. Do 

 not cultivate after that time, as the 



