The Canadian Horticulturist. 203 



under it, and when the trees become so large as to be unmanageable they 

 may be permanently fastened down. Although only plums have been tried 

 in this way, there is no reason to suppose that cherries and pears may not 

 be made amenable under such treatment. 



PLAIN HINTS ON FRUIT GROWING— III. 



TREE AND PLANT FOOD. 



THE importance of understanding something of how trees and plants 

 are fed from the ground becomes apparent as we engage in the work 

 of fruit-growing and gardening. We soon see the value of plenty of 

 fibrous roots on the trees we set in the ground, by the appearance of the 

 foliage and growth of those that have, compared with those that have 

 not, such fibres ; and when we take into account what has been hinted on 

 before in these papers, respecting the balance between root and top of a tree, 

 as we are setting it in the ground, we can estimate pretty correctly how 

 much top to leave on the trunk of the tree. Many trees come from the 

 hands of the nurserymen to the purchasers with long full tops, with corre- 

 spondingly long bare tap roots, and many inexperienced purchasers, who 

 desire to see a fine top on their trees at the outset, put them in the ground 

 without pruning back either top or root, and then wonder why their trees 

 do not succeed better. There is little chance for a tree to feed from a bare 

 tap root. It is the fine fibrous roots on the main ones that suck from the 

 ground the nourishment the tree needs for. vitality and growth. If a tree 

 comes to hand with few fibrous roots, cut back the top, leaving three or four 

 main branches, and these cut short, if you would expect to succeed with 

 your tree. Become acquainted and familiar with the wants of your young 

 trees, and you can treat them with the same interest that you would young 

 live stock of any kind. Your tree has a life to sustain and nourish, and you 

 cannot expect it to grow thrifty if you carelessly put it in the ground, as 

 many do, without regard to its condition and wants, and leave it to care for 

 itself. Pruning back the branches and long tap roots tends to force out 

 fibrous roots ; and here nurserymen can profit by a hint, if they will, by 

 pruning down the tops of their two and three year old trees, to force out 

 fibrous roots on their main roots, prior to their transplanting at four years 

 old. If young trees are allowed to grow long and few branches, it will be 

 found that their roots are long and bare of fibrous roots as a rule. Corre- 

 spondingly, if the tops are kept short and bushy, the roots will be more 

 fibrous, and recover transplanting more successfully. I feel the importance 

 of placing stress upon this point, as many would-be fruit growers lose heart 



