Roots and Their Environment 



193 





'.,0''/- 



Fig. 116. The newly planted tree is 

 supported by ropes or wires until the 

 roots can take hold and anchor it 

 securely. The soil should be packed 

 firmly about the roots to facilitate the 

 absorption of water and allow the quick 

 development of rootlets and root hairs. 



Fig. 117. The tree must be kept well 

 watered (but not flooded) for a time, for 

 many of the absorbing rootlets have been 

 lost and there is danger that the leaves 

 will not receive an adequate water sup- 

 ply. By this method large trees are suc- 

 cessfully transplanted when in full leaf. 



Success in transplantiag is attained by gradually trimming 

 the roots months before the tree is moved, and by loosening 

 the soil near the tree so as to develop a mass of absorbing 

 roots near the base of the stem. When the tree is lifted, the 

 roots are not cut off, but as many as possible of them are 

 carefully removed from the soil. The small roots of trees are 

 killed by drying, and for this reason they are protected from 

 wilting by being bound up in wet moss. Sometimes the trees 

 are loosened somewhat in the autumn and moved during the 

 winter, together with much of the frozen soil surroimding 

 the roots. Successful transplanting depends upon reducing 

 temporarily the loss of water by trimming the top, preserving 

 the absorbing roots, and exercising care in handling both 

 roots and stems so that they may not be injured. (See also 

 page 55 •) 



