The Portland daily press., 1880-03-17
AGRICULTURAL.
The Transplanting OF Trees.


me IransDlanclng OF frees
1t is estimated that OF the hundreds OF
thousands OF trees sold from the various
nurseries IN this country, in the course OF
year, at least one-third die on the hands of
the purchaser when they are transplanted.
For this excessive mortality the nurserymen
are always blamed as the purchaser will
never acknowledge that it arises from any
neglect or ignorance of his as to the mode of
planting. 1t is the almost universal failing
of our people to believe that they can each
OF them do anything else that any other per-
son can do. This is especially the case in
farming and gardening.
There is scarcely a merchant, tradesman,
or mechanic in the country, who does not
think that he can run farm, or proftably
engage in fruit-culture or stock-raising.
When they retire from commercial life they
almost always enter into one or the other of
these pursuits, either as source of direct
or indirect profit and after few years of
trial find out by their balance-sheets or in
vestment accounts that they lose money, Of
ten very heavily, and in disgust sell their
country places, at heavy discount on the
cost, to some novice as self-conceited as
themselves, who COOS through the same ex-
perience, and who arrives at the same re-
suits.
"Bewitched with the idea that farming
and horticulture are arts that do not require
any special training on the part of those who
follow them, they rarely buy book or SUBJ
scribe to a journal making these arts spec
ialty. If they employ in gardening opera
tions a so-called gardener. it is too frequent
ly man OF the cheapest kind as far as
wages are concerned, but one whose igno-
rance M kes him the most expensive en-
ployee on the place. For this reason, re-
spectacle and resposibe nurserymen refuse
to warrant or guarantee the trees they sell.
Another frequent source of disappoint-
ment in transplanting trees arises from the
desire on the part of the buyer to get as
much as he can for his money. He accord
inglY will buy timber instead of trees. The
hurseryman will advise him to buy small
trees, but as he sells his old overgrown
stock at proportlonately far lower prices
than the younger stock, such buyers are the
only customers who take it off his hands.
Again, this class OF customers almost always
grudge the cost OF properly packing the trees,
although nurserymen seldom charge more
than sufficient to cover the bare cost of do
ing SO. SUCH customers would laugh at
puyer VINO, purchasing cloths or muslins
from them. should order them shipped with
out being packed in bales or boxes. We
nave frequently seen nursery trees tied up
In fagots, shipped hundred miles or more,
with their bare roots exposed to the harsh
drying winds and sun on the forward deck
OF steamboat, or in Slated cars ON rail
road. The buyer who orders them sent in
this exposed way should not complain if he
loses at least one-third: the wonder is that
ne saves one OF them.
TO guard against such disappointments,
which are the more aggravating because
they involve loss OF both money and time,
we give the following simple directions for
buying and transplanting trees:
Always buy your trees OF the nearest reli-
able nIrseryman, Tor II he is well acquainted
with his business he will always keep for
sale those varieties which do best in the sec
ton OF country in which he resides. 1t is
best to consult with him as to what varie-
Ties TO purchase, especially II you are mex
perlenced.
Gave your orders as early In the season as
possible. by SO doing you Will get the first
and best selection OF his stock, and having
longer season TO plant In, you Will be able to
DO 1t more at your leisure, and consequently
IN better manner.
never BUY peach trees over one year old;
plums and cherries, apples and pears, over
TWO years Old; grape vines, unless pot
grown, over one year old; ornamental trees,
unless wanted for special purposes, such as
road or street planting, over six or seven
feet high; shrubs, over two years old; resin
ferrous evergreens, not over four or five feet
high; and fat-leaved evergreens, over two
feet high. Trees within these limits can be
taken up with nearly all their roots, and will
scarcely snow any signs OF thelr removal, II
properly planted and afterward attended to.
A few trees and shrubs, such as magnolias,
with thick and feshy roots, should be had
pot-grown if possible; otherwise they should
not be over two years old.
When giving your orders direct that the
trees and shrubs be well packed, If they are
to be transported any distance. If to be
brought home in your own carts or wagons,
provide liberal supply of coarse hay or
straw, well dampened, to stuff in between
the roots, and also provide old horse-blan-
kets or sail-cloths to cover them well up, so
as to keep out the sun and air. Magnolias,
tulip-trees, and similar rooted trees should
have their roots puddled, that is, dipped in
thin mud, for if their roots once get much
dried they will seldom recover.
When you receive the trees, before open
ing the bundles, open some trenches two or
more feet wide and sixteen inches deep;
into these place the trees or shrubs upright,
one at time, and cover the roots with soil,
pressing it down firmly with the foot The
trees should be placed sufficiently far apart
to allow their being drawn out without dis
turbing their neighbors when wanted for
permanent planting. This is technically
known as "heeling i'm As they are heeled
in, all the bruised or injured roots should be
cut back to just behind the confused parts.
The tops should be pruned back about one
third their length; but do not prune back
clear to the main stem, as is often done, and
so make whip stalks of them.
D.. Never plant trees when the soil is wet or
cloddy, but wait until it is in a friable con-
ton. Nor is it best to plant during rainy
day, as many ignorant people suppose; the
soil soon gets too wet, and sets about the
roots like brick clay, and the work will not
be properly done. Let the holes for the trees
be dug out at least foot larger than the
diameter of the roots The depth must be
in accordance with the size and character of
the tree; sixteen Or eighteen inches is gen.
should not be deeper set than it was in the
nursery.
Do not mix any crude or artificial manures
with the soil used to fill in the holes. If the