May 17, 1893.1 



Garden and Forest. 



21 1 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office : Tribune Bihlding, New York. 



Conducted by Profeaaor C. S. Sargent. 



entered as second-class matter at the post office at new YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1893. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles :— The Caie of Newly Planted Trees 211 



The Production of Timber by our Forests 212 



New England Parks : Putnam's Wolf-den, Pomfret, Connecticut. (With 



figure.) Mrs. y. H. Rabbins. 212 



Notes on the Forest Flora of Japan.— XIII. (With figure.) C. S. S. 213 



Foreign Correspondence: — Paris Letter ff. 214 



Cultural Department :— Plant Breeding Fred. IV. Card. 216 



Spring Flowers E- O. Orpet. 217 



The Hardy-flower Garden y. N. Gerard. 2ii 



Roses f^.ff. Taplin. 218 



Correspondence : — The Re-appearance of Wild Flowers Lora S. La Mance. 219 



Recent Publications 219 



Notes 219 



Illustrations :— Disanthus cercidifolia, Fig. 33 215 



Mouth of Putnam's Wolf-den, Pomfret, Connecticut, Fig. 34 217 



The Care of Newly Planted Trees. 



IN this latitude most of the tree-planting for the spring- 

 is now over, and, no doubt, much of it has been im- 

 properly done, which means that a great amount of 

 money and labor has been wasted. And yet, even where prop- 

 erly selected trees have been planted in the most approved 

 manner, it should never be forgotten that they are not 

 likely to reach their best estate unless they receive constant 

 care hereafter. The first season in the life of a transplanted 

 tree is its most critical period. After this it will be better 

 able to take care of itself, although there never will be a 

 time in all its history when it will not be stronger and more 

 beautiful for intelligent attention to its wants. Prizes are 

 now offered in some states to those children of the public 

 schools who plant the greatest number of trees on Arbor 

 Day. It would be better if such prizes were given to those 

 who plant the best trees in the best manner, and still better 

 yet if a prize was offered, to be awarded some five or ten 

 years later, to the child who had reared the best tree. The 

 simple planting of a great number of trees has little educa- 

 tional value. If they are badly planted the lesson is worse 

 than useless, but thoughtful and devoted attention given 

 to a growing tree for half a dozen years would bring an ex- 

 perimental knowledge of the methods of plant-life and of 

 the means of circumventing a plant's enemies, which would 

 be invaluable in all future practice of this sort. 



In the first place, newly planted deciduous trees, unless 

 they are very small, need to be kept in place so that they 

 cannot sway about in the wind to such a degree that the 

 roots are loosened and separated from that intimate con- 

 tact with the soil which is essential to their growth. To 

 prevent this, a stout stake should generally be driven firmly 

 in the ground and close to the -stem. The tree should be 

 fastened to this stake with some soft material like strips of 

 canvas or bast, for cord, wire or other sharp material 

 would cut the bark. The attachments should be made 

 from a point two or three feet above the ground up to the 

 top of the stem, and for this reason, and to prevent the in- 



jury of the trunk by rubbing against the end of the 

 stake, this should be as tall as the tree. Exposure of 

 the bare wood of a tree brought about by pruning 

 or by abrasion of the bark is always dangerous. There 

 are many fungi causing diseases of trees which enter 

 through the leaves and buds and tender twigs, but the 

 most common ones are those which attack open wounds 

 and never grow on healthy bark. Whenever such a raw 

 surface is made it should at once be covered over with 

 coal-tar or some such substance to prevent the punk fungi 

 and others, which cause decay, from getting a lodgment 

 and carrying death into the trunk. 



Again, all the nourishment of the tree must be diluted in 

 water and carried up through the roots. Moisture is there- 

 fore essential at the roots, and every means should be taken 

 to preserve what is in the ground, especially when the 

 weather becomes dry. All grass and weeds about the 

 trunk should be kept down, inasmuch as they rob the tree 

 of the food which belongs to it. Frequent stirring of the 

 surface is a good practice, for this breaks the continuity of 

 the capillary tubes which form as the ground hardens, 

 and the layer of loose soil acts as a mulch to prevent 

 evaporation from the surface. Mulching itself, with 

 any kind of litter, is always in order. As the season 

 advances, the growth of the trees should be carefully 

 watched. If vigorous shoots and bright, abundant leaves 

 are formed, this shows that the tree has made good 

 roots, and that these roots are doing their duty. If 

 there is stunted growth and insufficient foliage this is a 

 warning that the roots are small and feeble, and that they 

 probably need moisture. It is sometimes a good plan to shade 

 the trunks, especially on the south side, and it is often advisa- 

 ble to wrap them with straw-rope or other material, to 

 check evaporation. This is especially true of large trees 

 when the bark looks dry and shows signs of loosening. 

 In such cases it is advisable to moisten the trunk with 

 water. 



As the season wears on it will be found that each species 

 of tree invites the attack of particular insects, which assail 

 it in every part. A great amount of knowledge concerning 

 these pests and their habits has been accumulated during 

 recent years by patient study, so that we now know how 

 most of the borers, and girdlers and defoliators do their 

 work, and we have learned, too, in most cases, how to 

 repel their attacks. Science has rendered no more impor- 

 tant aid to horticulture and agriculture during the last few 

 years than it has in the discovery of insecticides, and the 

 most effective ways of using them at the proper time and 

 place. With the teachings of the new literature on that sub- 

 ject every one who successfully cares for trees must be- 

 come familiar. The methods of warring against these 

 various enemies have been given from time to time in 

 Garden and Forest, as experience has proved their value, 

 and the bulletins of the experiment stations and of the 

 Department of Agriculture of the general government fur- 

 nish all the information necessary on this subject. 



But, after all this, something more is needed. Even if a 

 tree is well fed and kept in health and free from enemies it 

 still requires the guiding hand of man if it is to assume its 

 best form. Much useful pruning in the summer-time can 

 be done by simply rubbing away the leaf-buds and by 

 pinching off the young shoots with the thumb and finger. 

 Some branch may start out with an excess of vigor which 

 threatens to destroy the symmetry of the head, and it 

 needs checking. Another branch which is not needed 

 may be chafing against one which cannot be spared, and 

 the useless one can be removed while it is small without 

 any check to the vital force of the tree. Nature may re- 

 place the broken leader of a conifer by two leaders of equal 

 strength, so that the trunk is divided into two stems of 

 nearly equal size, and then the tree will have little value 

 for ornament or timber. If one of these is removed at 

 the outset a straight single trunk will be produced, and 

 what promises to be a misshapen tree will soon be a good 

 one. 



