Brief Suggestions to Planters. 
Nothing tends more to a refining and cultivating influence than 
contact with the beautiful in nature. Each year marks an increase in 
the interest shown, although we may not all be in a position to have a 
fine lawn and elaborate gardens. A handsome tree, a few shrubs or 
bright flowers render home more attractive, and cannot fail to make 
their influence felt by all who see them. 
Then the usefulness of such ornaments should be considered as well 
as merely the pleasure they give, for in a windy or exposed location a 
very perceptible difference is made in the comfort of a country home by 
the trees which surround it. 
Evergreens are specially useful in making these wind=breaks ; besides 
this, how many unsightly corners can be hidden by a little judicious 
planting, making a pleasant object for the eye to rest upon where 
heretofore one has not cared to look. 
In planting in poor or uncultivated soil, the holes should be from 
two to two and a half feet deep, according to the size of the tree, and 
about eight inches wider than the roots when spread in their natural 
position. The hole should be partially filled with good mellow earth 
before the tree is placed in it. 
Should any of the roots be bruised or broken it is best to cut them 
off with a sharp knife, as a clean cut will heal much sooner than a 
bruise. At the same time reduce the top branches in proportion to the 
root loss which the tree may have suffered in being taken from the 
nursery ground. When the roots are numerous and fibrous the trimming 
need not be so severe as when they are few and of large size. 
Two persons are required to plant a tree, as one must hold it in a 
perfectly upright position while the other fills in the earth, taking great 
care to let it sift into every vacant place, so that there can be no air 
spaces left around the roots. As the earth is filled in it should be firmly 
pressed down with the foot, and if the weather is dry pour in three to 
four gallons of water before the earth is all packed down, as earth 
watered in this way retains the dampness a long time, while water 
poured on the ground is apt to make it baked and hard, so that no 
moisture can be absorbed afterward. 
The most common error is that of planting too deeply; the tree 
should be made to stand as nearly as possible as it did in the nursery. 
After planting, the soil around a tree should be mulched deeply with 
manure or coarse litter of any kind, to prevent the action of frost in winter 
and dry weather in summer. 
