108 



from the shelter of the woods to the sudden exposure to sun and wind. The inex- 

 perienced tree planter invariably chooses his trees too tall, under the impression that 

 he gains time, and does not stake them properly to resist the action of the wind. 



I do not fear to assert that trees grown from seed in the nursery, and properly 

 treated, will give more satisfactory results in every way (economy, rate of growth 

 and final success) than trees dug up in the forest and transplanted in the open. The 

 nursery tree being taken up in perfect order, its growth will scarcely be checked by 

 transplanting; it will be, of necessity, transplanted smaller, suffering less from the 

 wind ; it will not miss the shelter of the forest, and the farmer who has his own 

 nursery can transplant at once, without allowing time for the roots to dry and 

 choosing his own time, a cloudy or damp day. 



Of course, in alluding to the frequent failure of transplanted trees taken up in 

 the forest, I do not pretend that experienced tree-planters cannot take them up safely 

 by bestowing sufficient time and care, but I mean that the great bulk of the trees 

 taken up by farmers and others which have come under my notice have failed, and I 

 could quote instances of complete failure, when not one single tree outlived the trans- 

 planting. 



Any observant farmer will soon find out the time when the seed of the trees he 

 wishes to grow is ripe — elm, soft maple, from middle June to middle of July ; in the 

 ISTorthern States and Canada, hard maple, birch, ash, oak, butternut, walnut, &c., in 

 the autumn. Better sow the seeds at once, they are safer in the ground than any- 

 where else. 



A soft maple or an elm sown in July will make a good growth of several inches 

 the same summer. Sow the seed in straight rows, ndarked with a garden line, and 

 with a good picket at each end to facilitate weeding. Depth and distance accord- 

 ing to the size of the seed : about 1 inch deep for maple and ash, and 4 inches 

 apart ; and 2 or 3 inches deep for oak, butternut and wfilnut, and say 8 inches 

 distant. 



The third spring the trees will be fit for transplanting. In the meantime they 

 will only require weeding, severing the taproot of the oak, butternut,walnut, the second 

 spring, (with a sharp spade driven in the ground at an angle of about forty-five 

 degrees, under the little tree), and hoeing between the rows, which can be done at 

 odd times by the farmer or his children. The fact is, 1 would like to see that work en- 

 trusted to the children. They will take an interest in those little trees and learn to 

 cherish them. We must teach the rising generation to replace the forest trees des- 

 troyed by their parents. 



Once transplanted into favourable ground, keep off the cattle, and the tree will 

 take care of itself. 



But, if you will trust to nature, it will save you the trouble of sowing your 

 trees. Wherever the ground is favourable you will find the young seedlings grow- 

 ing in the neigbbourhood of the parent tree : in July the elm, the soft maple, on the 

 roadside, near the ditches, on the bare spots wherever there is moisture, on damp 

 moss, etc. The elm seed is so minute that I would recommend taking up those 

 young seedlings in preference to sowing the seed. I have seen dozens of them 

 growing on a piece of moss no larger than my hand, and transplanted them success- 

 fully. 



The ground in the maple groves is covered with a regular carpet of maple 

 seedlings, which can easily be pulled up by hand when the ground is soaked with 

 the autumn rains, without injuring a single rootlet. Taken up in the autumn, I 

 would recommend heeling them for the winter, and only transplanting in the nurs- 

 ery in the sjjring. 



As for the seed of pine, spruce and other coniferous trees, it is very hard to 

 collect. In the early spring, when the ground is still moist and soft, the pine and 

 spruce and balsam seedlings can be pulled up by the hand (with a trowel if they 

 resist), without breaking the roots, and transplanted at once in the nursery, merely 

 taking the precaution to shelter them from the sun for a few weeks until they are 

 well started. Every gardener must have noticed that whenever a maple or ash 



