TRANSPLANTING. 95 
and to give the tree more room to grow. By shortening the 
long roots the root system is made more compact and better 
able to withstand subsequent removal. This may be done by 
transplanting, or by cutting around the tree with a spade or tree 
digger. It is especially desirable to do this to trees that are not 
easily moved on account of their long branching roots, such as 
the Birch, or to those that have tap roots, like the Oak and 
Walnut. It is on account of their having had their roots short- 
ened so they can all be moved with the tree that nursery-grown 
trees are generally superior to others. 
In Transplanting it is Important to take up a sufficient 
amount of roots to support the plant, and as a rule the more 
roots the better the conditions for growth. Very long roots 
Figure 15. Extra good roots on a forest- 
grown Elm, used as a street tree. 
should be shortened unless the tree is removed to a permanent 
place, in which case all the good roots should be left on the tree. 
All bruised or broken roots should be cut off in either case, and 
the top of the tree shortened to correspond. In transplanting 
trees they should be set one or two inches lower than they for- 
merly stood, and the roots should be spread out in the holes 
without crowding. It is customary to plant many kinds of small 
trees in furrows made with a plow. 
Very Large Trees (those over six inches in diameter) are 
sometimes successfully planted in winter, by taking them up 
with a ball of earth. This is done by digging a trench around 
the tree, late in the autumn, deep enough to cut most of the 
