TREE CULTURE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 71 



All open-root plants stould tave plenty of fibrous roots, and. in the 

 case of the slower-growing kinds, they should be transplanted once in 

 the nursery lines before they are put out into the plantations. If, however, 

 they are only required for lining out in the nursery at home, then, of 

 course, one-year seedlings will be sufficient for this purpose. 



Great care is necessary in the selection of plants in pots. The follow- 

 ing are some of the principal points to be attended to in their purchase : 

 — Avoid such as are drawn up and spindley. A very large proportion of 

 potted plants are of this character; I have seen plants in a 4in. pot stand 

 30in. Mgh, with their foliage of a pale, yellow-green colour, showing 

 disease and general weakness. Still, it must be admitted that trees of 

 this class are planted and yet do well. It would be unwise, however, to 

 conclude from this that spindley trees are the proper kind to purchase. 

 No man knowing anything at all about the physiology of plants would 

 suppose so for one moment. They, of course, succeed at times by great 

 care and attention in staking, watering, &c., combined with the excellent 

 character of the climate, which does much to push forward the 

 tenderly-grown plant into full hfe and renewed action, even under most 

 disadvantageous circumstances. 



Pines are often kept in small 4in. pots for two, and even sometimes 

 three years. These are really not worth planting, and should, in my 

 opinion, be burned as worthless stock ; at all events, let me strongly 

 advise my readers to avoid purchasing them. 



Pines and gums should not be longer than nine or ten months in the 

 pots, and at the time of planting they ought not to be over Sin. or 12in. 

 in height, and they should be wide-spreading and branchy, and have 

 been reared the greater portion of the time in the open air and not 

 under cover, as is too frequently done. 



Some nurserymen, have a habit of " trimming," as it is called, all 

 deciduous trees as they are sent out of the nursery. This operation is 

 carried out upon the roots of the plants as well as their side branches. 

 The system is iniquitous, and cannot be too strongly condemned. As 

 already explained under another heading of this work, such lateral 

 shoots of the branches as show signs of interfering with the growth of 

 the proper leader, should be shortened only before the plants leave the 

 nursery ; but, as for trimming up the roots, do it not at all, unless it 

 be occasionally the shortening of a very strong tap-root, which may be 

 devoid of fibrous roots, and therefore better cut oif in order to encourage 

 a flow of rootlets from the edges of the cut — which generally follows an 

 operation of this kind. 



