Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1893-07-26
Farm Notes.
Care OF Newly Planted Trees.

planting for the spring is now over,
and no doubt much of it has been
improperly done, which means that
a great amount of money and labor
has been wasted, says Garden and
Forest.
In the first place, newly planted
deciduous trees, unless they are very
small, need to be kept in place so
that they cannot sway about in the
wind to such degree that the roots
are loosened and separated from that
intimate contact with the soil which
is essential to their growth.
Exposure of the bare wood of a
tree brought about by pruning or by
abrasion of the bark is always dan
gerous. There are many fungi
causing diseases of trees which en-
ter through the leaves and buds and
tender twigs, but the most common
ones are those which attack open
wounds and never grow on healthy
bark Whenever such a raw surface
is made it should at once be covered
over with coal-tar or some such sub
stance.
Again, all the nourishment of the
tree must be diluted in water and
carried up through the roots. Moist
ure is therefore essential at the
roots, and every means should be
taken to preserve what is in the
ground, especially when the weather
becomes dry. All grass and weeds
about the trunk should be kept
down, inasmuch as they rob the tree
of the food which belongs to it.
Frequent stirring of the surface is a
good practice, for this breaks the
continuity of the capillary tubes
which form as the ground hardens,
and the layer of loose soil acts as a
mulch 20 prevent evaporation from
the surface.
If there is stunted growth and in
sufficient foliage this is a warning
that the roots are small and feeble,
and that they probably need moist
ure 1t is sometimes a good plan to
shade the trunks, especially on the
south side, and it is often advisable
to wrap them with straw-rope or
other material, to check evaporation.
AS the season wears on it will be
found that each species of tree in
vites the attack of particular insects,
which assail it in every part. A
great amount of knowledge concern
ing these pests and their habits has
been accumulated during recent
years by patient study, so that we
now know how most of the borers,
and girdlers and defoliators do their
work, and we have learned too, in
most cases, how to repel their at
tacks.
But, after all this, something more
is needed Even if tree is well fed
and kept in health and free from en-
emies, it still requires the guiding
hand of man if il is to assume its
best form. Much useful pruning in
the summertime can be done by
simply rubbing away the leaf-buds
and by pinching off the young shoots
with the thumb and finger. Some
branch may start out with an excess
of vigor which threatens to destory
the symmetry of the head, and it
needs checking. Another branch
which is not needed may be chafing
against one which cannot be spared,
and the useless one can be removed
while it is small without any check
to the vital force of the tree. Ma.
ture may replace the broken leader oi
confer by two leaders of equal
strength, so that the trunk is divid-
ed into two stem of nearly equal size,
and then the tree will have little
value for ornament or timber. II
one of these is removed at the outset
straight single trunk will be pro
duced, and what promises to be q
mishappen tree will soon be a gooc
one.