574 Cultivation of Plants. 



in the ground in respect of root and stem. For by far the 

 greater number of species this condition is essential to produce 

 healthy flourishing trees. Certain trees, it is true, such as 

 many Poplars and Willows, will succeed if subjected to the 

 roughest usage in planting, but these are species which readily 

 produce roots from any portion of their stems. It is a well- 

 known fact that large Willow poles will strike root if thrust into 

 the ground where there is sufficient moisture. But deep 

 planting is one of the principal causes of stunted growth, early 

 decay, and even death itself; sometimes it happens through 

 inadvertence, but very often to save the trouble of securing a 

 tree in its pr.oper position by means of stakes and other appli- 

 ances. It may seem almost incredible that a man should plant 

 a tree a foot deeper than it ought to be in order to make it 

 stand firmly, but it is so ; and frequently the roots are treated 

 with as little respect as the stem. In the first place, they are 

 carelessly mutilated in lifting a tree, then exposed to drying 

 wind for several hours perhaps, and finally bruised and crushed 

 by the barbarous practice of stamping the earth down upon 

 tli em with heavy nailed boots. Probably the tree may grow in 

 spite of all this ill-treatment ; but it cannot be doubted that it 

 would flourish much better if the work of transplanting were 

 carefully and skilfully performed. 



The losses and disappointments occasioned by inattention in 

 planting exceed all others put together. A tree is not so much 

 injured by not being planted quite so deep as it would naturally 

 be, as it is by being planted too deep. The points from whence 

 the roots are given off, or where the root begins, should be 

 barely covered, and when large holes are dug and refilled with 

 mould, this should be allowed to settle down before the tree is 

 planted, or the tree should be planted considerably above the 

 surrounding soil, to allow for a certain amount of subsidence. 

 Every root should be secured, not exposed to the air or sun 

 longer than is possible, and carefully spread out in replanting. 

 The soil should be gradually filled in, and where pressure is 

 necessary it should be gentle and with plenty of soil between 

 the foot and the roots. When once planted, a tree should be 

 immediately fixed in its proper place by means of stakes and 

 soft bandages ; or if large, wires with india-rubber rings from 

 some point above the middle of the stem, stretched outwards 

 and fixed to dwarf stumps. Ligatures should never be too tight 

 when first put on, and to prevent a tree from being permanently 



