Evening star., 1924-09-13
TREE-P[ANT|NG DUE.
AS AUTUMN COMES.
Choice Of Soil, Climate and
Variety Important-Roots
Must Be Moist.

New recruits in the tree-planting
army are ready to swing into line for
the Fall campaign. The American
Tree Association in Washington will
send any one, for a two-cent stamp to
pay postage. tree-pianting sugges-
tions and a tree day program for
schools and womens clubs
Charles Lathrop Pack. the presi-
dent of the association. says there
will be thousands of new members in
the tree planting this year. The
only way to join the American Tree
Association is to plant tree and
register it with the asso' iation.
In planting a, tree thu first con-
sideration is the soil. the climate, and
the species. Thought must be given
10 the location of the tree, the space
ii will have in which t" develop. and
the variety that grows best in the
vicinity. 1t is well also to consider
whether it is not better to plant trees
of long life, such as the oak or Syca-
more, instead of trees like the silver
maple or poplar that mature after
short span of life.
1t may be that in nearby wooded
sections there are many young trees
SaplinSs, or evergreens. This OF
course. makes an easy source of sup
ply. with the advantage of obtaining
perience shows. on the other hand.
that it is often more satisfactory to
buy nursery trees especially raised
for transplanting. AS a piece of gen
eral advice it might be said that
evergreens of feet in height and
deciduous trees IN to - feet, raised
in a nursery. will give the best re-
suits.
Keep Roots Moist.
Roots must not be bruised or al
lowed to dry, and moist earth should
he kept around them until just be-
fore they are put in tire ground. This
is extremely important. because
few moments of illadvised exposure
of the roots to the sun, wind, or dry
air will injure the future of the
tree.
Broken or bruised roots should be
pruned and at the same time the top
of the trees can be shaped up. The
pruning should be done cleanly with
a sharp pruner.
There are supporters of both Spring
and Fall as the time for planting de-
ciduous trees. Both have good argu-
ments. If one were to lay down a
general rule, however, it would be
safe to say that all trees except ever
Greens can be planted at any time
during the period between their go
ing to sleep in the Fall and awaken
ing in the Spring. and when the
ground is not frozen. In the Northern
States the early Spring is the best
time for the inexperienced planter.
Evergreens can be put into the
ground in the late Spring and dur
ing. the latter part of August and the
first of September.
CouI Day for Planting.
A cool and cloudy day is the best
for planting. In preparing the hole
for the tree it should be made large
enough to hold the roots extended
normally. 1t should be deep enough
for six-inch layer of good loam be-
fore the roots with pointed stick.
No air spaces should be left, and it is
well to soak the soil around the roots
so that the tree will stand firmly.
Most trees should be- planted two or
three inches lower than in the nur-
Sery.
There can be no fixed rules for
spacing trees. Along streets they
will range from 80 to so feet apart,
depending upon the variety used. Ex-
cept along highways, it is best to
plants trees fairly near together, and
the ones that crowd can be cut out
later.
If the tree planter has not pruned
his tree before he put it in the ground
it should be done Immediately after
ward Frequently there is too little
rather than too much pruning at the
top. YThe tree top should balance the
root system. Many tree planters find
il best to remove all the side
branches of the deciduous tree, Ieav-
ing only the leader or main shoot.
This leader should not he pruned
back in the deciduous variety.
There is no need of pruning the top
of evergreens at the planting time.
and except in the case of some va
rieties of cedar it is undesirable.
The tree-planting hints the Ameri-
can Tree Association will send you
for stamp to pay postage has u
diagram for planting that every tree
planter should have.