HOW TO PLANT A TREE 63 



9. Early winter pruning is undesirable because 

 the healing of wounds must wait until spring. 



10. Yearly pruning is better than pruning at less 

 frequent intervals. 



HOW TO PLANT A TREE* 



BY JULIA E. ROGERS 



/. Dig the hole wider and deeper than the tree 

 requires. If the tree just fits into the socket the tips 

 of the roots will meet a hard wall which they are 

 too delicate to penetrate, hold fast to, or feed in. 



//. Be sure that the surface soil is hoarded at 

 one side when the hole is dug. This soil is mellow 

 and full of plant food. The under soil is harder and 

 more barren. Some rich garden soil can well be 

 brought over and used instead of the subsoil. 



///. Take up as large a root system as possible 

 with the tree you dig. The smaller the ball of earth, 

 the greater the loss of feeding roots and the danger 

 of starvation to the tree. 



IV. Trim all torn and broken roots with a sharp 

 knife. A ragged wound below or above the ground 

 is slow and uncertain in healing. A clean, slanting 

 cut heals soonest and surest. 



V. Set the tree on a bed of mellow soil with all its 

 roots spread naturally. 



VI. Let the level be the same as before. The tree 's 



* From " The Tree Book," Doubleday, Page & Co. 



