The Columbus journal., 1879-05-21


from spinal disease, and not few
with broken arms and disloeated
joints. Trees sometimes have scrof
ula, and an occasional leper is found
in their ranks. All this goes tO
prove the necessity Of preserving
intact :heir physical organization
But TO proceed with the planting Oi
the tree. When The tree is dug up
protect the roots from the sun and
wind. If you cannot remove por.
ton of the original soil with the
roots, be careful 10 have them GOV.
cred by wet gunnysack or some
thing similar until the tree is depos-
tied in the hole prepared for il. You
may exempt the cottonwood, ash
and box elder from the rigid opera
ton of this rule, but still allow as
little exposure as possible in plant
ing these trees. With all ever
greens and also the walnut this rule
must be strictly enforced. You
must guard the roots Of the walnut
and the evergreen as carefully and
tenderly as you would guard your
own infant babe. With ash, cotton
wood, maple, elm, box elder and a
few other varieties you may relax
the rule. We have now got the
tree at the hole ready to plant. A
word about the hole. 1t must not
be a post-hole, neither should it be
a cellar. The size of the hole de.
pends largely upon the condition of
the ground in which the tree is
planted. If your soil has been cul-
tiyated number of years and has
had the advantage of a succession of
deep plowings, you need not make
the hole much larger than the one
from which you took the tree. On
the contrary, if the soil is hard and
soddy the hole must be much larger
than the lateral dimensions of the
roots Of the tree. The object is to
have loose, well-pulverized soil
through which the roots may spread.
Dig the hole q few inches deeper
than the depth you plant the tree,
then fill in with fine earth and pack
the bottom pretty well, leaving the
bottom of the hole slightly convex.
Ii is now ready for the tree. Now
cut off all the fag or bruised ends of
the roots. If a root is broken, cut
it off cleanly just above the fracture
as a surgeon would amputate a
mashed or broken finger. When
this is done put the tree into the
hole, spread the roots in their nat
urai order over the bottom surface,
the conyexity of which will give the
roots slightly downward inclina-
ton, be very careful i'm arranging
the fibrouS roots, the larger ones
will almost take care of themselves,
now cover with a few inches of
moist surface soil and pack and
tamp it down firmly about the roots
with your hands-the man who wo'd
use his boot for this purpose cannot
raise trees. You have now about
three inches of nice fine soil well
tamped around the roots of your
tree-there are no open spaces or
vacuums about the roots, but every
thing is firm and well packed. Then
empty pail Of rain water into the
hole, and allow the same sufficient
time to be absorbed by the soil.
Now put on few inches more of
fine earth and then tramp it until
you have tramped it enough-then
tramp it more, but mind and don't
let your big cow-hides touch the
bark about the trunk of the tree or
you'll skin it. Continue this process
until you have the soil well rounded
up about your tree. Don't spare
the tramping. The great secret of
success is the encasing of the roots
by the earth. Do not use very much
water in planting your trees, never
use enough to make a mortar of the
soil, for when the soil dries and
hardens it will crack and draw away
from the roots and leave q vacuum
or open space and the confined air
will form q mould and rot the roots.
Your tree is now planted. The
next consideration is the trimming
of the branches. This may or may
not be necessary. In this matter
you must be governed by the cir
cumstances of each case. If the tree
mas full supply ofroOts and mod
crate supply of branches you need
not trim, but if the roots are meagre,
trim in proportion, always bearing
in mind that the roots are the sup
pliers and the trunk and branches
the consumers. Do not trim your
evergreens unless you are obliged to
do so; but If you do trim them, i'm
mediately apply a little grating
wax to the wound, it takes but little
time and is not expensive, fifty cents
worth will be sufficient for six hun
dred ordinary trees. In this State
the walnut is inclined TO bush or
branch 10 such an extent that we are
obliged to keep it constantly trim
mod and ! m M ooao -