The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1906-01-25

water and sand poured In, then packed
down hard around the root The
white mark shows how far into the
ground they we're set. These trees did
not receive the care they should have
had. and they grew slowly az first l
have dug up quite a number OF them
to see what they were doing and In
every case thus far they have started
like those In the picture. Their hrat
effort seems 10 he a series OF tap-rooH.
which dig straight down into the
ground The bottom OF the root I'M
der favorable conditions forms cal
lus and then sends out roots Just
about like currant cutting. As will
be seen In the picture these roots go
down. have traced them until /
feel sure they reached nearly or quite
20 the water level I take Il than
the chief object Of this deeD-rOoted
system Is 20 supply water TO the tree
That seems 10 explain why such trees
are better able to stand drought or
lack Of cultivation than trees with
most OF the roots close 10 the surface
have dug up a gOod many trees and
have spent much time in orchards
where dead trees are being pulled out
These trees were all planted In
large holes. with long roots len on
them. and some pains taken % spread
these roots out without cramping thom.
In such orchards have never yet
found n tree rooted as mine are With
the large hole and long roots I rarely
find a tree with any useful roots much
below two feet from the surface. on
my ot-pruned trees the tap.roots are
often six feet OF more under ground.
OF course We an understand that the
best feeding roots of the tree are in
the upper foot or is inches. The fact
that under this system these upper
feeding roots are slow TO start seems
10 account for the slow growth OF
these trees for the hrst year or two.
Later. after the tap or what ! call
water roots" are well fixed. the
small feeding roots come out from be-
low the crown Of the tree. and growth
comes rapidly.
This Is the result OF planting In a
crowbar hole. do not practice Il
nov. but make large hole. and leave
on more side root.
whyg II this Is a good thing why
give II upg
/ do not give up the principle. but
modify II. The crowbar hole Is 10
small that you can never be sure that
the air Is kept away from the lower
end Of the root II Is absolutely neces-
sary to have this part OF the hole
packed tight-olherwise the root will
not form a callus and will rot or dry
out. Again. where no side roots are
left. the tree as II forms a head and
stops the wind will whirl about In the
hole. form a large opening at the top.
ana often fall over Il Is possible
to stake the little tree and hold II frm-
~. but | think Il better TO leave
short stubs Of the side OF the roots,
pruning them from the under side. We
then dig hole just large enough to
hold the roots without cramping. and
pound AMI pack the earth soiidly
around the roots. In this way We do
not get Just the root growth shown In
the picture, but we do get. thus far
at least a much deeper start than
where the tree is planted In a large
hole with long roots left on II. Thus
far am unable 10 see any advantage
in making a great hole and leaving on
the roots. and every orchard | see dug
out stiffens my faith in the root-prun-
ing method. | think any man who
knows much about trees will say that
such roots as | have pictured are
more likely to bring water In time OF
drought than the surface roots which
are found on most trees. This Will
explain why | compare a root-pruned
tree to clover, and long-rooted tree
of timothy. Observe the way these
act in a "dry time"