112 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



their roots by transplanting until they reach the age of ten 

 or more years, it is seldom that they will survive a removal. 

 Their roots have penetrated the soil so deeply that the fi- 

 brous ones at the ends are unavoidably lost by that oper- 

 ation. This is also true of such broadleaf trees as have tap- 

 roots. Their successful removal is difficult at best, but 

 practically impossible if allowed to grow to ten or more 

 years of age before deprivation of that especial feature. 

 Broadleaf trees that have no tap-roots need not necessarily 

 be removed to the transplant nursery, but may be trans- 

 ferred to the forest when one, two, or three years of age, 

 depending upon the rapidity of growth in early life and 

 the character of the forest ground in which they are to be 

 placed. 



In addition to the foregoing it should be realized that 

 the early growth of most conifers, especially White Pine 

 and the Spruces, is very slow. A White Pine is not likely 

 to reach a greater height than twelve inches during its first 

 five years' growth. The sixth year it may grow ten or more 

 inches, and from that time on it may annually add to its 

 height twenty, or even thirty inches, until it reaches the 

 age of forty or fifty years, when its growth begins to lessen. 

 Because of this slow growth in early life it is best to give 

 it a home in the transplant nursery until near the age when 

 vigorous growth begins, in order to guard against the 

 many dangers which would beset it if placed where it could 

 not be cared for. 



Probably two years in the seed-bed and two in the trans- 

 plant grounds will more certainly bring success than a 

 longer or shorter period in either ; yet in case of broadcast 

 sowing in the seed-bed it has sometimes been found advis- 

 able to remove them to the transplant nursery when one 

 year old, especially if the growth has been vigorous or the 

 plants are crowded ; but where drill sowing has been adopted 

 there is less liability of crowding and they may remain 

 there for two years and then be placed in the transplant 

 grounds. If one-year-old seedlings are put in the transplant 



