CHAPTER V 



THE PLANTING OF STREET-TREES 



THE TREE IN THE WOODS 



After the planting plan is complete the trees must be 

 selected in the nursery. If in the woods you will pull a tree 

 seedling out of the ground you will see that the downward 

 or tap-root is almost as long as the stem. If left to grow, 

 the root system of such a seedling would become as large as 

 the top. If you wished to transplant it after a few years' 

 growth,, it would be difficult to take up all the roots; and if 

 many of them were left behind, the tree would have a poor 

 chance to live after transplanting. There is always a bal- 

 ance between the roots and the top of a tree. The cutting 

 away of the roots will tend to retard the growth of the crown. 

 Because of the risk attending the successful transplanting 

 of trees from the woods, it is the practise in the planting of 

 shade-trees to get all the specimens from a nursery. 



THE TREE IN THE NURSERY 



Developing of the Roots. — In the nursery the tree is 

 trained to withstand the hardship of being transplanted to 

 its final home. Seedlings a few feet high are dug up, the 

 tap-roots are removed to within a few inches of the stem 

 and set out in nursery rows, the rows being about five feet 

 apart. The seedlings no longer send downward roots, but 

 develop a lateral root system; just as when the leader of a 



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