DIGGING AND HANDLING EVERGREENS. 39 



that they cannot evaporate the water unless unreasonably de- 

 layed. 



I once ordered a lot of Jack Pines from "Wisconsin. Fear- 

 ing the man did not understand evergreens, I charged him to 

 pack and cleat solid, because railroad men will tumble boxes 

 around, the trees will break loose, the air will get at the roots 

 and that ends it. The trees came standing upright In the box, 

 and so poorly fastened they shucked about and let In the air, 

 while the moss worked down from the roots. That was one 

 mistake. The other was that the trees had started to grow be- 

 fore they were dug. They had new sprouts from one to four 

 inches long. Now if am evergreen grows like that it is prey- 

 ing on itself with no root-backing. The upshot was that with 

 the very best care I could not save five per cent. There was 

 the aggravation of paying for the trees. Including a heavy 

 express bill, with the stock, which was fine, killed by maltreat- 

 ment. 



Next spring I ordered Jack Pines from another man. These 

 were cleated solid and packed with wet moss containing a deluge 

 of water. Now expressage on water is Just as heavy as on 

 trees, iamd the cost was just three times what It should have 

 been, then too. It is bad for the foliage to have trees packed so 

 wet. Turn such a box wrong side up and the water saturates 

 the leaves and rots them. Remember in packing evergreens 

 you must have the roots wet and the tops dry. It is just as 

 fatal to pack with wet tops as with dry roots. Perhaps it is 

 wet weather and the foliage holds a good deal of moisture. 

 Hold on! Don't pack till the tops are dry or you will kill your 

 trees. 



A man once sent roe a few Colorado Blue Spruce of the 

 finest brand. Fortunately there were only a few. He packed 

 in a tight box in hot weather and packed wet moss around the 

 tops. When I saw them It made the toe of my boot ache. 

 They commenced to grow, the shoots were pale and white. 

 Though planted under a screen the sun burned them or the 

 needles fell off. Some died, and It took the rest two years 

 to recover. 



I once shipped a beautiful lot of Blue Spruce and Concolor 

 Firs from the Rockies to Massachusetts. Complaint came that 

 though they seemed to come in excellent condition the needles 

 were falling off. Now there happened to be on the line where 

 a transfer was made a very conscientious and faithful express- 

 man. Said he, "Here are a beautiful lot of trees and we must 

 get themi through in the best of shape." So he gave the tops 

 a good soaking. That did the mischief. In the moist air of 

 the East, however, they rallied and put on new foliage. In the 

 dry air of the West they must have died. 



Evergreens should. If possible, always be sent by express. 

 It costs a little more but live trees are much cheaper than dead 



