GENERAL CULTURE 185 
with their double weight and consequent strain 
weaken the tree as they grow to maturity and 
invite a split at that point as the years ad- 
vance. Remove the one which will least im- 
pair the tree’s symmetry — and in removing it, 
cut away down level with the bark of the 
trunk, and leave no stump whatsoever. 
Plants that have been packed and shipped 
always come out of their wrappings with roots 
very much compressed, naturally. Work them 
out carefully and into their natural positions in 
so far as it is possible to do so, before under- 
taking to plant them. Immersing them in 
water will soften and so help to restore them, 
if they persist in their constrained positions, 
providing a broad enough vessel is available. 
A wash tub will serve usually. Let them drain 
after such a bath, however, until the rootlets 
shake freely apart, otherwise it may do more 
harm than good by interfering with the free 
sifting of earth in and around each. 
This is always to be the the aim in planting 
— to surround every rootlet with earth, just as 
it was surrounded when it crowded its way 
through the soil where it first grew; to bring 
earth particles into close contact with it on 
every side, that it may feed freely and unin- 
terruptedly. In order to do this there must 
