LOSSES IN TRANSPLANTING. 267 



firmly at proper depth and heavily mulched. Every evening bodies 

 of the trees were moistened with a wet cloth. Nearly every tree grew, 

 among them the highly valued and too little known St. Lawrence 

 apple, prized for fine quality, size and color of fruit, productiveness 

 and hardiness of tree. 



Roots becoming dry in transit is fatal to evergreen but not always 

 to deciduous trees, which in many instances can be saved by burying 

 entire tree in moist earth, closely pressed upon it for a few days, when? 

 instead of a shriveled appearance of bark, it will be restored to its 

 original plumpness. 



Puddling roots in clay mortar prevents drying or injury by freez- 

 ing if buried or left well packed in cellar until frost is out. Care 

 should be taken in mixing the puddle to have it of proper consistence 

 — not merely dirty water, or so thick as to have a large surplus adhere 

 to roots. In the first instance it would be of very little, if any, benefit. 

 If too thick, it only adds, unnecessarily, a large percentage to the 

 freight bill. In an instance of the latter known to me, a thousand 

 apple trees of ordinary size for orchard planting weighed 3,300 pounds, 

 adding some fifty per cent to freight. 



"Rotten root" is sometimes a cause of loss. In transactions of 

 this society for 1878, H. C. Freeman says of pear trees ; " More trees 

 have been killed by the peculiar fungus which attack the roots than 

 by blight." It is as fatal to apple as to pear trees. A cottony ap- 

 pearance is first noted which is succeeded by warty excrescences and, 

 as the name implies, roots rot and tree dies. Various remedies, as 

 hot water, strong alkaline solutions, have been suggested ; pardon my 

 egotism for offering, with implicit confidence, a better one : Put all 

 infected trees on top of a dry brush heap and burn at once. As none 

 of your members buy trees from agents, please suggest that each one 

 of them tell neighbors who do to carefully inspect bodies and roots 

 of trees, and if found to be affected as described, refuse to accept them. 



The neglect to properly pack and firm soil among roots is one of 

 the greatest causes of loss. Fine dirt should be well packed in by 

 hand, and all roots covered several inches with it. Pour on a pail or 

 two of water to wash dirt into all possible cavities. After ground 

 settles fill in again, tramp and pound dirt firmly about roots. (I have 

 used post rammer often.) Leave surface soil loose, mulch with prairie 

 hay, straw, or other coarse litter to depth of six inches, extending a 

 foot bevond ends of roots. 



