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6. Stake properly. -Kemember that the young tree will not be anchored for 
many a day. That different situations are of different degrees of shelter. That different 
soils have varying capacity for anchorage, and facilitate the development of roots in 
different degrees. Even when there is little danger of the tree being actually blown 
out of the ground, some trees have a greater tendency than others iso heel over or to 
deflect from that uprightness which is so admired in a tree. In a word, staking is 
necessary during the early years. Such staking should be adequate, and the best time 
to do this is prior to planting the young trees, iu order to avoid possible damage to the 
roots, a contingency likely to occur when the stakes are driven into the ground after 
the tree is planted. Stakes should be of durable, strong timber, should be driven well 
into the ground, usually vertically, and the size of the stake should vary with the size 
of the plant. 
Sometimes the stake is changed, two or three times, as growth proceeds. Usually 
the stake is driven home vertically, but some gardeners prefer the less neat-looking 
oblique method of staking, where the stem and the stake touch each other at one point 
only. With vertical staking two or more ties can be attached to the stake, and thus 
the young tree has support for a large portion of its length, but there is some danger 
of the stake interfering with the root-system, and also with the base cf the stem. 
7. Attend to the state of the stake-lies if necessary. The great curse of gardening 
in New South Wales is what I may term the Micawber system the " thank-heaven- 
that's-settled " frame of mind ; the neglect to make adequate provision for maintenance. 
How many men start well with a garden. But they forget that in forming a garden 
well they have only done one portion of their work. What would one think of a man 
who had a horse in good condition given him, one which was well bred and altogether 
desirable, and who would say he will cost nothing for maintenance? And is not this 
what thousands of our citizens are doing to-day? They are in charge of trees or own 
gardens, and expect these living things to flourish and be a source of pleasure to beholders, 
and all this without further expenditure of kbour or money, or both. Let us apply 
this specifically to stake-ties. I have seen plants securely tied at the time of planting, 
and death has resulted from these very ties, which should have been an aid and not a 
torture and danger to the young plant. This has happened iu two ways from insect 
pests and from throttling. Many insects are constantly on the lookout for shelter to 
lay their eggs and for other purposes. Tree-loving beetles and moths walk up or fly 
up the stem, and find comfortable shelter in the stake-ties. These may become a mass 
of insect eggs or larvae. Frequently beetles pierce the trunk just at the ties, so that 
the ties, instead of being a protection, aro an absolute detriment. Then by having 
strong ties, which the tree cannob snap, as its trunk expands, the natural growth of 
the tree is impeded ; it is cinctured, early flowering is induced and the tree, if it lives 
at all, has a short life. I have known wire to be used for stake-ties, which, of course, 
cuts into the stem. There is only one remedy for this, and that is the dismissal of the 
man guilty of ifc. As regards stake-ties of a more yielding material they should be 
renewed at least once a year, and the old ones carefully collected and burnt. 
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