184 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



Puddling the roots is a good practice when trees are 

 to be shipped any distance or when they are likely to be 

 unduly exposed, and it is a common practice among 

 nurserymen. The operation consists in sousing the roots 

 in a thin mud or paste of clay. 



Trimming the trees. 



There is much difference of opinion as to the best way 

 of trimming trees when they are planted. So far as the 

 root is concerned, it is advisable, in the North, to cut 

 away only those roots that are broken or badly torn. 

 These should be cut off just back of the injury. It is the 

 custom to cut off the ends of all roots of the size of a 

 lead-pencil or larger, for a clean smooth wound is sup- 

 posed to heal more quickly than a ragged one, although the 

 experiments at the Woburn Experimental Farms (Eng- 

 land) showed that bruises and rough ends healed very 

 rapidly (Ninth Kept., 1908). When the tree is planted, 

 all the roots should be straightened out to nearly or quite 

 their normal position. If it is found that one or two roots 

 run off to an inordinate length, they may be cut back to 

 correspond somewhat with the main root-system. 



Perhaps half the root-system of the young tree is left 

 in the ground when it is dug. It is therefore evident that 

 the top should be cut back to a corresponding extent. In 

 fact, the top should be more severely shortened-in than 

 the root, because the root, in addition to being reduced, 

 is also dislodged from the soil, with which it must establish 

 a new connection before it can resume the normal activ- 

 ities. Trees that carry too much top when planted may 

 fail to grow outright; or if they start, they are likely to 

 be overtaken by the droughts of summer. Even if they 

 live, the growth is usually small and uncertain, and the 



