HOW TO PLANT. 



61 



done. Let your trees be improperly handled whilst being du^ 

 and set out, and if they grow at all, it will be a sickly, stunted 

 growth, that will be a perpetual reminder to their owners of the 

 old and truthful adage, " whatever is worth doing, is worth doing 

 well." 



The work of taking up and transplanting trees whose roots 

 are chiefly fibrous, like those of the citric family, is one requiring 

 time, care and patience. Don't try to do too much at one time, 

 or you will repent it. 



In digging trees, preserve every root and rootlet that is pos- 

 sible, if they are to be carried to any distance, or kept for several 

 days out of the ground. It will pay well to puddle the roots — 

 in other words, dip them in a paste made of clay and sand, made 

 just thin enough to let the finest rootlets be plunged in it without 

 breaking, and yet thick enough to cling to them like a close fit- 

 ting garment. Koots thus protected, put away in a shady place, 

 and watered so that they do not get dry, Vvill keep in good order 

 for two or three days. 



Under no circumstances must the tender rootlets of the 

 citrus family be permitted to dry ofi' during the interval between 

 digging and planting, for being evergreens, they dry off very 

 quickly, and nothing can ever revive them again. Never let 

 the sun touch them. 



In packing for shipment the roots should be thoroughly 

 enveloped in damp moss, straw, or grass, and in conveying in 

 wagons, even a short distance, damp Florida moss should be 

 thrown over them. Take them from under this shelter one by 

 one, as you are ready to plant them ; never drop them ahead of 

 the w^orkmen. 



The soil should be damp, both when the trees are taken 

 from the nursery and when they are set out. If, in ordering 

 them from a distance, they arrive in a dry time, place the roots 

 in water for twelve hours before planting, and use water freely 

 when setting them out. 



In planting, the hole should be slightly raised in the center, 

 sloping downward toward the sides ; then, with a small spade or 



