242 Principles of Plant Culture. 



roots should be well covered, and if at a dry season, 

 they should also be mulched. To avoid mixing varie- 

 ties, a separate row should be made of each sort. 



Nursery trees that cannot be packed for shipment at 

 the proper time, are often lifted and heeled in, to 

 retard the starting of the buds. 



409. Preparation of the Plant, a Washing the 

 roots. The "puddled" roots of nursery trees (406) 

 are sometimes found inclosed at unpacking in a mass 

 of mud that is so compact as to largely exclude the air 

 (Fig. 131). The roots of such 

 trees should be washed clean be- 

 fore replanting (Fig. 132). 



b Trimming the roots. The 

 roots of trees that have been 

 broken or mangled in the lifting 

 or transportation should be cut 

 FIG 131 FIG 132 back to sound wood with a sharp 



FIG. 131. Puddled roots knife, 

 of nursery tree. 



FIG. 132. The same Fibrous rooted plants, as the 



washed, ready for 



planting. strawberry, are much more read- 



ily planted when the roots are trimmed, as shown in 

 Fig. 31. 



c Reducing the top. The buds of trees and shrubs 

 should generally be reduced in number at replanting 

 to correspond with the destruction of the younger roots 

 during the lifting process ; otherwise the water supplied 

 by the roots may be insufficient to open the buds (62). 

 This is best accomplished by thinning out and cutting 



