108 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



may be the best thing to do certainly so in the case of 

 the tap-root ; but if there is no tap-root, or the roots are 

 reasonably compact, there is no reason for cutting off any 

 unless seriously injured. It is the practice of some to 

 prune uninjured roots more or less when setting out a tree. 

 What the purpose is cannot be imagined. If a person has 

 already suffered severely from loss of blood it would be a 

 hazardous remedy to bleed him still more. 



Heeling-in. It is sometimes found advisable to remove 

 plants from the seed-beds or from the transplant nursery 

 before circumstances will permit their being set out in the 

 forest ; or it may be advisable to take up seedlings a few 

 days before setting them out in the transplant nursery, in 

 order to make the ground ready for another- sowing. In 

 either case they must be so cared for that their roots will 

 not be exposed to the sun, wind, or frost, or in any way 

 become dry. The accepted method of doing this is termed 

 " heeling-in." This is accomplished by digging a trench 

 about as deep as the plants are long, including their roots, 

 with one side inclined about twenty degrees from the per- 

 pendicular, and placing the plants against the sloping side 

 and covering the roots and a portion of the tops with fine 

 earth, care being taken to fill all the interstices around the 

 roots. This filling-in is essential, for, if not done, the roots 

 are liable to become dry and injury or death of the plants 

 may ensue. The plants should not be placed too thickly, 

 for if they are, heating and moulding are liable to occur, 

 and this will kill them. When the row of plants has been 

 properly covered with five or six inches of soil, another row 

 can be placed parallel and treated in the same manner. 

 They should not be disturbed until taken out for trans- 

 planting into the forest or transplant nursery, when their 

 roots should be at once immersed in thin mud and as soon 

 as possible placed in the ground where they are to grow. 

 If the ground is at all dry at the time of heeling-in, it 

 should be well watered before the plants are placed in it, 

 and not allowed to become dry again before their removal. 



