PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS UPON TREE-PLANTING. 55 



ON THE PEOPAGATION OF EVEP^GREENS — EXPERIENCE OF A SUCCESS- 

 FUL PLANTER. 



Mr. Samuel Edwards, of Illinois, who has had eminent success in 

 planting evergreens, at the University course of lectures and discussions 

 held at Eockford, 111., in February, 1870, made the following statements 

 concerning the handling of evergreens : 



I have had a good many years' experience wifh evergreens. Growing them from seed 

 in ordinary seasons on our prairies is rather difficult. A wet seasouTlilie the last, is 

 better ; but, as a rule, those who are inexperienced had better buy their trees. 



To grow evergreens, soil that is about one-third sand, with some mold, should be 

 used. The seeds should be covered once or twice their diameter. They should be sown 

 early to prevent their " damping off." This arises from excess of moisture in hot 

 weather. We sow on dry sand to check it. Sow the seeds in beds four feet wide ; 

 about two pounds of the seeds of the European larch, or of the pines to the square 

 rod. Cover the young plants with leaves the first winter. Leave the plants two years 

 in the beds before transplanting. Birds are fond of the seeds, and must be watched. 

 In getting trees from the forests, plant them as quickly as possible, and put a shade of 

 laths over them. Plant them closely in the bed ; leave them in the bed generally 

 two years, and then plant the rows two and a half feet apart, but the trees close 

 together in the rows. We sowed our seeds last year at Green Bay. The atmosphere 

 is not so dry there ; the birds are the only trouble. I prefer to plant evergreens when 

 in a state of rest, but they can be moved in a moist day until late in the season. In 

 t^at case I would plant late in the evening, water heavily, and protect them rtie next 

 day from the sun. Trees for belts I plaee ten feet apart in the row, and bceak the joints 

 with the nest row. 



Red cedar has generally succeeded pretty well until three or four years ago. Hemlock 

 is grown best in partial shade. The American yew is fine in the shade. It is similar in 

 leaf to the European, and to the hemlock. It is propagated readily from cuttings in 

 the shade, late in May. The Norway spruce will bear shearing well ; as also the aibou 

 vitre. 



[In answer to queries.] When the branches are too thick, taking out the alternate 

 branches often does verj' welL It will answer to move seedlings that have not been 

 transplanted, if you pre careful. I would just as soon have trees from the woods ; but 

 they must be ca.refully handled, and be small ones, not more than four to twelve inches 

 in height. Red pine is difficult to handle. Austrian pine is attacked by a fungus. I 

 find i t here at Rockford. Siberian arbor vit ae does very well here. In the t^hade, it roots 

 readily from cuttings made with a part of the last year's wood left on.' 



Mr. Edwards, in an article published in the Iowa Agricultural Eeport 

 of 1871 (page 346), explains more fully some points of his method in 

 propagating evergreens and larches: 



The beds are made four feet wide, for convenience of weeding. By sowing so early, 

 the plants attain the woody fiber before hot weather, which is so fatal to the plants 

 while young. The beds when sown may be covered with damp moss, rags, or some- 

 thing of the kind ; this is to be closely watched, and removed when the plants begin 

 to show themselves. Arbor vits© and many varieties of juniper are readily grown 

 from cuttings four to six inches long, taken oft' in May, or the fore part of June, with 

 an inch or two of last year's wood, and planted two-thirds of their length in the ground, 

 the lower end in pure sand. Cuttings of this kind, and of small plants of evergreens 

 should be shaded in time of extended drought, and should receive a liberal watering 

 every two or three weeks, followed, before the surface dries, with a mulching of dry 

 forest leaves, sawdust, or other litter. The idea formerly so prevalent that evergreens 

 were more difficult to transplant successfully than deciduous trees, is not sustained by 

 extended experience. It is now generally known that the roots of evergreens must 

 never dry in the least while out of the ground. Transplanting can be done from open- 

 ing of spring until time of bursting of the buds. Even after growth of an inch has 

 taken place, they may be successfully planted if the roots are grouted as soon as they 

 are taken from the ground and well watered and mulched when planted; Shading the 

 tops when late planted makes success still more certain. Early planting is always 

 advisable. In time of severe drought large specimens, at other times nearly certain lo 

 die, may be safely transplanted if the work is carefully done and the tops are watered 

 each evening. From the time when the terminal buds are formed iintil the middle of 

 September, transplanting maybe done with safety. In an extreme instance, I had 

 good success with a lot of thirty or forty, from the forests of Colorado, planted at their 



' Jliird Eeport of Trustees of Illinois Industrial Universily, p. Lii5. 



