Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-19
TREE PLANTING IN AUTUMN
Advice Of a Nurseryman to Amateur
Gardeners.
SIGNS OF A HEALTHY TREE
Pruning Of the Tops and ROots-set-
ting Out the Trees-strinBfeI-
low Method OF Producing
quick Results.

the better" declared a nurseryman who
has the reputation Of being able TO trans
plant with perfect safety the largest as
well as the smallest trees. "I move de-
clduous trees in September and evergreens
in October.
when the trees are received from the
nursery they should be planted as soon as
possible. but not until after they have been
amined to make sure they are sound,
fresh and healthy. There Is very little use
IN planting a sickly tree, and II you have
paid for a good one be sure the nursery
man has sent II. The bark OF a tree when
It comes from the nursery should be plump
and not shriveled. 1t should be moist and
full Of sap, not dry. 1t should have its
natural color and not be blackened or
bruised anywhere.
After examination has proved the tree
in satisfactory condition It's pruning should
be looked after. The best implement for
this is the ordinary hand pruning shears.
The first step In pruning is to trim out
all broken branches from the top. Next
comes cutting back all side ranches to
within two or three inches OF the stem: In
doing this you should be careful to see
that each one Of these side stubs has at
least two good healthy buds. The leader
should be cut back next enough to CORE
spond with the side shoots in making a
symmetrical plant.
THE fourth step is to prune out with a
sharp knife all the broken or bruised roots.
In doing this you must be careful to cut
on the under side Of the root, sloping out
ward, in such a way that when the tree
rests on the bottom Of the hole the cut
surface Of the root will come In direct con-
tact with the soil.
IF there are a number of trees and you
haven't force enough to plant them all the
first day / advise pudding them. To do
this mix a quantity of thin mud and move
the roots of the trees about in It until they
are thoroughly coated with It. This pre-
vents the roots from drying when they are
lying out of the ground.
Next comes the digging Of the hole.
] prefer the old fashioned way Of using
q spade and making the hole wide enough
to receive the roots without bending or
crushing them. The hole should be deep
enough 80 that after a~/shovelfui Of loose
earth has been put in the bottom the tree,
placed on this soil, will be planted slightly
lower than It stood in the nursery.
II seldom put fertilizer in the hole.
1 do, however, put the top soil In the
bottom Of the hole and I'LL In, so as to
put that taken from the bottom on the
top. This can be easily managed II in
digging the hole you will pile the first
stratum OF soil on one side and the subsoil
on the other.
T my way of thinking you cannot be
too careful in seeing that your tree is
perfectly straight, and when there are TO
be q number planted and at regular inter-
walls the alignment should be precise. The
usual way is to stalk off the places where
trees are to be placed, but when the hole
Is dug of course the stake has to be
removed. The trouble then is to find just
where the tree is to stand. To make this
easy and at the same time exact / always
use a tree jack.
This tree jack is easy enough to make.
1t is a board four or five feet long and
about four inches wide. There is a notch
In each end and a third in the middle.
After the ground is staked off, but before
the hole is dug, the jack is laid on the
ground so that the middle notch will. fit
snugly about the stake. Two pegs are
then placed, one In the notch at either
end. tt jack is then removed and the
hole dug just were the stake was stuck.
When the hole is finished the tree Jack
is put back in place, the end notches fitted
Into the pegs which have been left stand
ing, and the center notch viii show the
exact place where the tree must be set
This is a very simple process and I know
of no better method of getting an exact
alignment In planting trees.
Nov we will say the hole is dug and
the tree, after being properly pruned, Is
ready to be planted. Some good loose soil
has been placed into the bottom of the
hole and tramped lightly. Throw a hand
full of loose soil on top of this and put the
tree in position. While one man holds the
tree with his left land and with his right
hand combs out the roots into their nor
ma position a second man begins slowly
to throw in the soil. starting with the best
top soil.
las this soil is thrown In the first man
works it into place with his right hand,
being careful to distribute It under the
roots and about the stem Of the tree. When
the hole is about half full the first man
should leave off working in the soil with
his hands and should begin to trample Il
carefully down with his feet. II fertilizer
Is desired 1t may be put on as a mulch.
Where the men have had a little practice
IN planting trees these directions may be
followed with great rapidly.
There are some exceptions to this rule
of pruning and planting. Will 1 use IL
Invariably for ali slow growing trees ]
often use what is known as the String
fellow method when planting young trees,
l-year-old peaches and Japanese plums
and other rapidly growing varieties This
method is decidedly revolutionary, and &c
many persons without actual experience Il
appears at first like throwing away time
and good trees.
The first step in the Strlngfellow
method is to cut off the entire top in such
a way as TO shorten the stem to from six
to twelve inches. The next step is to cut
off the entire root system just below the
first horizontal branches. Then cut of
the roots that remain until they are only
short stubs against the bottom Of the
tree. This leaves what would seem to b,
a large cutting. rather than a tree.
THE method OF planting these closely
pruned tree stubs Is equally remarkable
one man with a spade sticks It In jus.
where the stake is placed and pushes tn,
handle OF the spade forward. The sec.
ond man, who follows with the trees, put,
one In. roots downward. behind the spade
The spade is then drawn out and the eartt
tramplsd firmly about the tree. Often Z
crowbar is used in place OF the spade anC
the results are as satisfactory.
sET,u.waw Nu.nauafhIa eha. 49, 800