The Garden Magazine, November, 1919 



133 



transformation as the enthusiasm spread. One hundred 

 trees varying from 6 to 20 inches in caliper of trunk at a dis- 

 tance of one foot above the ground were planted the first 

 winter, of which only one died, and this directly as a result of 

 lack of proper subsequent care. 



For^this work trees of a kind that develops feeding roots 

 close to the trunk should be chosen, because these hold the 

 earth in a compact ball during the operation of moving. 

 Further, they should be native to the section — and preferably 

 abundant, since this indicates that they find the local condi- 

 tions especially to their taste. Obviously a long-lived kind 

 should have preference over a short-lived, and the recupera- 

 tive powers should be high to enable them to recover rapidly 

 from the shock of transplanting. Many nursery firms now 

 offer big " nursery grown" trees, which are specially suited to 

 moving. The best time for doing the work is the month of 

 December in most parts of the country, inasmuch as at that 

 time trees are completely dormant, and the ground not hard. 

 They can be moved however with perfect safety, weather 

 permitting, from the middle of November to the last of 

 March, practically throughout the country. 



The trees in the Myers Park work were all handled by the 

 " ball of earth" method, this being the method employed also 

 with a high degree of success on the estate of Mr. James B. 



Duke, Duke's Farm, at Somerville, N. J. It is found less 

 expensive in some places than the method of wrapping the 

 roots in burlap — which is a more usual mode of handling, in the 

 North at any rate — and quite as satisfactory. The work is 

 not completed with the transplanting however — far from it! 

 The after-care is every bit as important as the method of 

 removal. But of course the work must be carefully done 

 and the loss to the root system reduced to the minimum. 



The life of the transplanted tree actually depends fully as 

 much upon the care which it receives for several seasons after 

 it is moved, as it does upon the way its removal is accom- 

 plished. Until it is well established it must be thoroughly 

 watered and kept mulched — and five to seven hundred gal- 

 lons of water per week is little enough to administer to it in 

 dry spells. For the surface of the ground may be soaked with 

 water, and yet the feeding roots three feet below the surface 

 remain quite parched! The one sure test for the condition 

 of the soil is to take a long shanked augur and bore down into 

 the ball of earth and then withdraw it. If no earth sticks 

 to the augur the conditions below are too dry and should be 

 remedied at once. 



Frequently sections of drain tile are sunk vertically into the 

 ground around the tree at the circumference of the earth ball, 

 and water given it by filling these as often as may be required 



FULL GROWN TREES ON THE MARCH AT MYERS PARK 

 Traveling much as a piece of field artillery, on trucks especially made' 

 for tree moving, which unlimber when the "firing position"is reached 



