132 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



natural and strong grip of the ground which the transplanted 

 tree never acquires, but the planter may imitate nature to a 

 considerable extent if he chooses to try. The much deeper 

 and stronger grip of the ground which the perpendicularly 

 planted or undisturbed seedling tree has from the beginning 

 gives it an immense advantage at the start, and it ,will keep 

 the lead and resist vicissitudes of wind and weather far more 

 successfully than the other. Figures i and 2 show the differ- 

 ence of root-hold in the two trees very clearly. The top- 

 weight, alone of the transplant, Figure 2, places it at a 

 disadvantage at a period when the seedling, Figure 1, would 

 have become firmly established. In transplanting young trees 

 in the right way, while still in the nursery, the planter will see 

 from the foregoing remarks that what he has to do is to make 

 the furrow, dug out by the spade, deep enough to allow the 

 roots of each plant to be placed in the natural position, that is, 

 straight down into the soil. The ground is prepared in the 

 usual way, planted as dug, and the line stretched for the rows 

 at a distance apart according to the size of the plants. The 

 soil is then patted above the line to firm it for the cut, and 



that done, a furrow is cut out with the 

 spade of the shape shown in Figure^ 

 The side next the line, shown by a 

 dot, should be perpendicular, and 

 Right way. %/ Fi against that side should be placed 



V ,g " 4 - the young tree with its roots hanging 



straight down against the soil. The man takes the plant in his 

 left hand, and placing the root in position, the same depth 

 from the collar as before, with his right hand pushes a handful 

 of soil from the opposite sloping side of the cut against the 

 roots to hold them in their place, and so on till the row is 

 completed. Then he digs on for the next row, levelling down 

 smoothly and neatly as the work proceeds. In transplanting, 

 but few plants should be exposed at one time, as the roots 

 are easily injured by exposure to the air and sunshine. 



In the garden and forest tree nursery we have never raised 

 young trees or shrubs in any other way than this, and in the 

 case of forest trees especially the roots have always lifted in 

 an evenly balanced shape and been planted on the pitting 

 system easily and successfully. In planting young forest trees 

 we never attempt to spread out the roots, but always aim at 

 giving them a good " tap-root " hold of the soil. We find, 

 from very careful experiment and observation, that the young 

 tree in due course and before long pushes out, horizontally, 



