HARRISON'S NURSERIES, BERLIN, MP. 



planted then, that is one of the very best times. In 

 most cases, however, you will find that the thaw 

 will come in February or March, and you must be 

 prepared to set your trees then. Much planting, 

 of course, has been done in April or even in May, 

 with success. But your trees have to run risks 

 with such late planting which they do not have to 

 face when planted earlier. 



When a box of trees arrives at your station, be 

 careful that it is not exposed to severe cold for 

 any length of time, or to hot sun and drying wind. 

 If the trees do get frozen, your plan is either to 

 bury the trees, box and all, or put the box, unopened, 

 in a cool cellar. The idea, in either case, is to let 

 the frozen packages thaw out gradually. If you 

 are not ready to plant immediately upon the arrival 

 of the trees, or as soon as they have thawed out, 

 unpack them, mix some loamy soil into thin mud 

 in a hole in the ground or in a tub, dip the roots in 

 this till they have a good thick coat, then trench 

 them in with the tops toward the south. To do 

 this, dig a ditch about 2 feet deep, the north side 

 perpendicular and the south side sloping, lay the 

 trees in, roots to the north. Cover roots and most 

 of the trunks with a foot or so of dirt. When the 

 time comes to plant, go over the roots and cut off, 

 on a slant, the face of which is down, all broken 

 roots. Give the trees another coat of thin mud ; or 

 set the bunch of trees in this mud and take them 

 out one by one right at the holes. 



In preparing the ground for the trees, dig at 

 least 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide. Thoroughly mix 

 the soil you take out, and then you can put about 

 a foot of it back. A recent development is to use 

 a small amount of dynamite in preparing the holes. 

 Run a bar down 30 or 40 inches deep, and explode 

 a third, a half or a whole stick at -the bottom of 

 the hole. The charge should not throw out the 

 dirt, but heave it. We recommend that you use 

 dynamite whenever possible, as it prepares the 

 soil much better than can be done in any other 

 way, and makes the trees grow much faster. 



Start the trees 10 inches deeper than you want 

 them to set. Sprinkle fine dirt in among the roots, 

 and, as you continue to do this, jolt the trees up 

 and down so as to settle the dirt in among the 

 fine roots. As the hole fills up keep packing the 

 dirt. Use a heavy maul and come down on the 

 dirt with all your weight. You cannot get it too 

 tight about the roots. This packing is one of the 

 secrets of getting trees to grow. The top inch or 

 two of dirt, however, should be loose to conserve 



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