181 
FARK AND CE-METERY 
In preparation for the reception of the tree the ex- 
cavation will partly depend upon the method pursued 
in moving. Were a ball of earth 8 to 12 feet in diame- 
ter removed with the tree, a hole at least 12 to 16 feet 
in diameter should be dug. If the roots taken with 
a tree spread 15 or 20 feet from the trunk the exca- 
vation should be made so as to extend several feet be- 
yond the end of the longest roots. It is generally 
preferable to excavate or loosen the soil not more than 
one foot below the bottom roots when spread out in a 
relatively natural position, or the bottom of the ball, 
provided the ball is not less than three feet thick. To 
plant a tree on soil which has been loosened and pre- 
pared by the admixing of barnyard manure or any 
vegetable substance tends to cause an eventual settling 
and tilting. Largely for that reason the use of con- 
centrated fertilizers is advisable. Bone meal and 
wood ashes are excellent for this purpose. Thorough 
mixing is advisable in preparing loam. Precautions 
should be taken to prevent the fertilizer coming in 
direct contact with the roots. Puddling the bottom 
of tbe hole into which the tree is to be planted is some- 
times done to fill in the crevices. Soil should be of a 
porous character for this purpose. All broken or 
bruised roots should be pruned, removing such parts 
in a manner calculated to leave a smooth, clean cut on 
the sound and healthy part of the roots remaining. 
When planting a tree it should be placed so that 
it will rest firmly on a moderately thin layer of com- 
pact soil placed in the bottom of the hole, all the 
roots spread out in a natural position and filling in 
among the roots done by fine soil, which would readily 
pass through a screen with quarter-inch meshes. Fill- 
ing should proceed gradually, and while in progress all 
cavities filled and the soil worked in firmly among the 
roots by hand, soaking or a rammer. When completed 
all the soil should be firm and compact. To prevent 
ibaking and rapid drying out it is desirable to avoid 
wetting the top layer of the soil during or a few days 
after planting. 
To conserve the moisture and prevent rapid drying 
out of the soil it is advisable to spread long hay, straw 
or other suitable material as a mulch to a depth of 
from four to six inches on the surface of the ball. The 
entire area of the soil which has been disturbed in 
planting should be mulched. A light, loose material is 
better for the purpose than green grass or other matter 
likely to ferment and obstruct a free passage of air to 
the roots in the soil. 
Planting trees with regard to their orientation is 
sometimes essential, particularly in the case of thin 
barked trees such as basswood, pin oaks, silver maple, 
etc. Sunscald and subsequent drying and death of the 
bark is apt to result from inattention to it. Trees 
growing on a southern slope cannot always be planted 
with the same relative exposure to that which they oc- 
cupied in their former positions. It would not be ob- 
jectionable to turn some trees 180 degrees from the 
position to which they were previously exposed. 
Having properly planted a tree it is in some in- 
stances advisable to prevent swaying by fastening gal- 
vanized iron guys to the trunk and attaching the op- 
posite ends of the irons to anchors sunk in the ground 
at a suitable distance from the trunk. Four guys are 
usually sufficient, each two extending in opposite di- 
rections and one pair being stretched at right angles 
to the other. 
To lessen the evaporation of moisture through the 
bark, cloths or twisted straw bands are sometimes fas- 
tened around the trunk during the first summer after 
planting. On small sized and thin barked trees such 
precaution may have a value, but for most large trees 
it is unnecessary or of slight or no advantage. 
Frequent syringing of the foilage is occasionally re- 
sorted to as a means of lessening the check incident to 
moving. Though often impracticable or expensive, it 
has merit. To be efficient the syringing should not 
be frequent or copious enough to drench the soil unless 
a watering is desirable. If the syringing saturates for 
long extended periods the atmosphere surrounding the 
tree, transpiration and evaporation are lessened and 
the reduction of roots normally required to provide 
moisture from the soil is assisted in maintaining a 
more natural equilibrium. Results could be only com- 
paratively measured, and would appear in longer, 
sturdier or larger annual development or by the pres- 
ervation of life when death would otherwise occur. 
This means would only be of particular benefit when 
leaves were in the process of development. Trees 
moved in early spring in an advanced state and before 
leaf development takes place are sometimes encouraged 
to start leaf growth by attaching a special device to one 
or more of the roots. The device consists of a volume 
of water elevated to a height sufficient to create a grav- 
ity pressure approximately equal to that normally ex- 
erted by the roots. Pressure and moisture is conducted 
by means of hose or other tubing to the roots. Attach- 
ment is made by cutting a root crosswise, slipping the 
tube over the end and binding the base with cord to the 
root. Connection may also be made with a municipal 
water jupnly, the attachment being made to a h3'-drant 
at one end and the pressure regulated by a hydrometer. 
Comment on the potential advantages of this appliance 
is reserved until additional scientific experiments sus- 
tain recorded results. 
Emil T. Mische. 
It -will not do to he exclusive in our tastes about trees. 
There is hardly one of them which has not peculiar beauties 
in some fitting place for it. — Oliver '\^endell Holmes. 
