34 PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



It is always best, however, to prune seedlings from the 

 forests a little more severely than those from a nursery, as 

 the former will feel the change more on account of having 

 been moved from a half shady position to one fully exposed 

 to the sun. The amount of stem and branches to be left 

 on seedlings obtained from the forest, must always be in 

 proportion to the quantity and quality of the roots ; if 

 the latter are few in number and weak, then but a small 

 part of the stem should be allowed to remain. 



As an extreme of what may be considered severe 

 pruning to insure success with seedling trees taken from 

 the forest, I will cite my own experience in handling 

 several thousand tulip trees (Liriodendron Tulipifera). 

 Desiring to procure a number of these trees, more for 

 experiment than anything else, I sent my workmen to 

 the woods and adjoining fields that were partly overgrown 

 with brush, to get the required number. Finding the 

 seedlings had but few side roots, and but one or two 

 long tap-roots reaching down into the subsoil, the spades 

 were thrown aside and the trees pulled up with what few 

 roots might adhere to them. They were of varying sizes, 

 from two to eight feet high, with stems from the size of a 

 pencil to an inch or more in diameter. The roots were 

 almost entirely destitute of fibers, and resembled carrots 

 more than the roots usually found on trees. All the 

 larger trees were cut down to one foot, and the tap-root 

 shortened to about the same length, or a little less. 

 These stumps were planted in a light, sandy soil, in 

 nursery rows, and given the usual cultivation, with a 

 loss of less than five per cent. As the sprouts started, 

 all except the strongest one nearest the top were rubbed 

 off. Some made a growth of two feet or more the first 

 season, and the next all would average three feet in 

 hight. The short stump above the point where the 

 new sprout started from the main stem was cut off 

 smooth during the summer ; the wound soon healed 



