186 



PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN FORESTRY. 



Mulching. Ne wly p lanted street trees are much helped 

 by a mulch of straw, hay, or well-ratted_ manure. The 

 latter is best, as it also furnishes plant food, and hot jnanu re 

 is liable to injure the trunk if piled against it. These 

 materials prevent the soil from drying out, and is espe- 

 cially beneficial if the trees are artificially watered. 



Watering should be done thoroughly or not at all. 

 One good watering should keep the ground moist for 

 two or three weeks, in the dryest weather we have, if 

 the land is heavily mulched when the water is applied. 

 For a good watering in a dry time at least one barrel of 

 water should be given to each street or lawn tree, and 

 for large trees very much more water 

 should be used. A hollow should be 

 made around the tree and covered vnth 

 mulch before the water is applied. 

 This same amount of water might be 

 appUed at the rate of one or two pail- 

 fuls a day and not be of the least 

 benefit to the tree if applied to the bare 

 surface of the ground. 



The Pruning of Deciduous Street 

 Trees at the time they are set out is an 

 important matter. If the trees are very- 

 tall and slender, it is a good plan to cut 

 them off at aboiit ten feet from the 

 ground and trim off all side^branches, 

 as sEown in Fig. 40. For trees that 



„ ,„ ^, have been pulled from the woods this 



FiG.40.— Ehn street . ,i ^, . . , 



tree properly IS generally the best treatment, while 



trimmed for plant- for nursery-grown trees that have had 



plenty of room to develop a good top, 



it may sometimes be best to trim so as to leave part of 



the top. If the trees are trinuned to bare poles before 



planting, some little pruning will be required each season 



Sb:.: 



