THE CHESTNUT. 69 



If the seedlings make a fair average 'growth the first 

 season they will be from one to three feet high in the 

 autumn, and as soon as the leaves have fallen they may 

 be taken up, or allowed to remain until the following 

 spring and then lifted. But if, from any cause, they 

 have made a feeble growth, it is better to let them re- 

 main in the seedbed another year. Where large quanti- 

 ties of seedlings are raised they are usually taken up 

 with a tree-digger drawn by a span of horses or mules, 

 but with only a few hundred or a thousand to dig, a 

 common spade will answer every purpose ; and if, when 

 removed from the seedbed, they are found to have pro- 

 duced long perpendicular taproots, these should be 

 shortened to about one-half their original length. For 

 instance, if these taproots are taken up entire and are 

 eighteen to twenty inches long, cut away the lower half, 

 whether it consists of one or more long perpendicular 

 roots, as this pruning will force the plants to produce a 

 greater number of lateral roots, and it is upon these we 

 depend mainly for keeping our trees alive and vigorous 

 if transplanted when larger and older. All side branches 

 should be pruned ofE close to the main stem, for we aim 

 to favor the latter in its growth upward until it reaches 

 the required hight for either grafting or forming the 

 future head of the tree. 



In taking up seedlings, it is not safe to leave them 

 for any considerable time exposed to the sun and drying 

 winds, and they should be carried either to a shed or 

 other building while being pruned, and also covered 

 with blankets in the field, except during moist, cloudy 

 days. A very little drying of the small fibers on such 

 plants is always more or less injurious. 



Planting in Nursery Rows. — After the seedlings 

 have been taken from the seedbed and pruned, they 

 should be set out in nursery rows, four feet apart, and 

 the plants about eighteen inches in the row. Trenches 



