FOREST TREES. 173 
tilation, and prevent heating. When they reach their 
destination, they should be immediately taken from 
the box and carefully bedded in a shady place until 
planted. In planting, the soil should be deeply 
stirred and made mellow, and the plants set very 
thickly in beds, first dipping the roots in thin mud. 
They should then, without delay, be thickly shaded 
by placing a screen two or three feet above them. 
his may be made of branches, with the leaves on 
them, or if these be wanting, of brush and straw over 
it. When the weather becomes cool, in autumn, the 
screen should be removed. If allowed to remain 
through the winter, it becomes a skulking place for 
rabbits, who will be likely to do great mischief by 
biting off the young trees. Two years is a proper 
time for the plants to remain in the bed, after which 
they should be planted in nursery rows. 
Pruning. 
Coniferous trees grown singly, or in groups for 
ornament, seldom need pruning. Irregular side 
branches sometimes require shortening, and if two 
or more leading shoots are thrown out, as will some- 
times happen, all but the most vigorous one should 
be cut out. When the leader is lost, it may be 
restored by lashing a rod to the stem of the tree, and 
tying one of the side shoots to it, in a position as 
nearly upright as possible. The lower branches of 
trees grown thickly in timber plantations soon die 
of themselves, and should be cut off close to the 
trunk. If this be neglected, and the dead branches 
15* 
