60 ARBOR DAY 



better be too broad than too narrow and a little 

 deeper around the margin than in the centre. It 

 would be better, if deep enough, that it receive a layer 

 of rich garden soil or leaf mold three or four inches 

 thick on which the tree may stand. A pile of similar 

 soil should be ready as soon as the tree is put in 

 position to sift over its roots and pack down upon 

 and between them. Settle this soil still more about 

 the fibrous roots by giving it a copious sprinkling 

 with a watering pot. Finally fill the hole with soil 

 and cover the surface with a layer of manure to act 

 as a mulch and keep the soil moist about the roots. 

 Put no manure in the hole nor in contact with the 

 roots. Plant no tree so near the school-house that 

 in after years it will unduly shade the windows and 

 darken the schoolroom. Do not plant the trees too 

 close to each other. Give them an abundance of 

 room to form broad, well-shaped heads. Before 

 taking up the tree to be transplanted it is well to cut 

 away any slender, feeble, irregular or superfluous 

 branches in order to reduce the head to good shape 

 and to diminish the demand that would otherwise 

 be made upon the roots for support at a time when 

 they are not able to supply the usual amount of 

 moisture and nourishment. If the tree is an 

 evergreen with a leading shoot do not by 

 any means cut back or injure the leading shoot. 

 Cut out the feeble branches and the irregular 

 ones that may have grown between the nodes, 



