38 PLANTING. 



it is safer, and in some respects better, to insert pipe- 

 tiles into the ground, the upper end level with the sur- 

 face. The water, when poured into the tiles, soon finds 

 its way to the extremity of the roots. Of all others, 

 the most economic and efficient method of watering 

 appears to be to leave the surface of the ground, at 

 a short distance from the stem, in a depressed or con- 

 cave form. The water thus rests in the cavity till it 

 sinks down upon the extremities of the roots. It 

 is sometimes asked. What is considered a fair and 

 sufficient watering when the ground is considerably 

 dry ? One gallon of water to a square foot of surface 

 may be considered a fair allowance, and administered 

 twice a-week. 



In selecting hardwood trees for transplanting, such 

 only should be chosen as have a perfectly healthy 

 appearance. In healthy trees the juices circulate 

 freely, and possess inherent powers of healing, which 

 is of vital importance in case of injuries having been 

 inflicted on the roots, trunk, or branches. A thick 

 fleshy bark, broad leaf, and rich colour, are all im- 

 portant qualities, and worthy of reliance in selecting 

 trees. 



In December 1886, the writer planted a number 

 of hardwood trees from 10 to 15 feet high, which re- 

 mained without supports for some time subsequent to 

 planting. The weather was boisterous at the time, 

 and the wind shook the trees severely, producing 

 around them, by friction, a hole in the earth that 

 admitted water which afterwards became frozen, and 

 the hardened surface of the hole proved very injurious 

 by fretting the bark at the necks of the trees. In a 

 short time, if attention had not been paid to them, the 

 trees would have been completely destroyed ; as it was, 



