CHAPTER XII. 



wcC\5)K>A30- 



How Young Trees should he Planted. 



Or all the varied operations of tlie arboriculturist, I know of none 

 upon which the success of his labors depend so much as that of careful 

 planting.- That three-fourths of the failures which we are always hearing 

 about are entirely due to this operation being done in a careless and 

 unworlonanlike manner, there is no reason to doubt. While I cannot, 

 therefore, impress too strongly upon my readers the absolute necessity 

 there is at all times for careful and skilled supervision of this work, I 

 will now endeavor to give some hints here as to how it should be done. 



Before planting begins, the site should be carefully inspected in all its 

 different parts and a decision come to as to what particular kinds of trees 

 are likely to succeed best upon it. It will sometimes be found that in 

 an enclosure of even five or ten ^cres, there exists such a marked 

 difference of soil and subsoil in places that the ground wUl have to be 

 taken up in sections, and each one planted without reference to the 

 other. 



One great source of failure in planting is, careless and quite un- 

 necessary exposure of the roots of the young trees during their transla- 

 tion from the nursery to their sites in the plantation. I refer in this 

 remark both to cases where the trees are reared by the planter himself, 

 and to plants which are purchased from nurserymen and conveyed some 

 distance to the scene of action. Let me give one or two cautions with 

 reference to this matter. 



Should you purchase plants from a nursery, see that they are very 

 carefully packed and their roots covered with damp straw or other 

 substance before they leave the establishment. This remark has 

 reference more particularly to deciduous trees which are grown openly 

 in the nursery ground. Plants in pots should be carefully packed in 

 boxes with damp moss round them to prevent breakage, and at the 

 same time, in order to keep the plants moist. As a rule, however, 

 customers may depend upon nvirserymen packing the plants well, as 

 it is to their interest to see that they arrive in good condition and give 

 a good return. 



Much of the damage to young plants occurs, however, after they have 

 left the hands of the nurseryman. They are taken home and probably 

 are allowed to lie about in bundles without watering, &c., for several 



