PLANTING ON SCHOOL GROUNDS

BY CHARLES H. PECK

From New York Arbor Day Annual

AN IDEAL tree should be one with a sound, straight well-formed trunk, slightly tapering upward, free from branches to the full symmetrical head that it supports. This should be richly clothed with bright green, healthy foliage and bear at the proper time an abundance of beautiful, fragrant flowers, followed in due time by a crop of useful or edible fruit. Moreover, its wood should be valuable for economic purposes, and both it and the foliage should be free from the destructive and defiling attacks of parasitic insects and fungi. The tree should also be sufficiently hardy to endure without serious harm the frosts of winter and the droughts of summer. Probably no tree will satisfactorily meet all these requirements. Those that possess most of these qualities should be considered among the best for transplanting. The simplest standards by which any tree should be judged would be its hardiness, its attractiveness, and its usefulness. Any tree that lacks the first one of these qualities should be discarded. Possessing this character and

either one of the others it is worthy of consideration. With this character and both the others it may be classed among the best for transplanting in school grounds.

Theoretically, trees may be transplanted late in autumn, after active growth has practically ceased, or early in spring before it has been renewed. The argument in favor of fall planting is that the rains of winter and early spring settle and compact the soil about the roots of the transplanted tree so that it is in excellent condition to begin growth as soon as the weather is favorable in spring. On the other hand, common practice sanctions the transplanting of trees in spring, and the designation of Arbor Day in spring presumes that this is at least a proper time for this work. Besides, it is possible so to do the work that it may not be necessary to wait for rain to settle the earth about the roots. It is very evident of course that a very young tree may be more easily and more successfully transplanted than an old one. A mere seedling scarcely a year old may be so carefully removed with the soil undisturbed about its roots and set in another place that it will scarcely suffer any check in its growth. But such seedlings are scarcely fit to be transplanted to school grounds. Unless specially protected they would soon be trodden down and destroyed. As a general rule it would probably be best to select trees two to four feet tall for transplanting. Such trees would not

all be of the same age, for some trees make a much more rapid growth the first two or three years of life than others. Some of the evergreen cone-bearing trees grow slowly at first and then can not well endure the full light of the sun. It would be well that these should be a little older when transplanted than the others.

In considering how the transplanting is to be done we must remember that a tree is a thing of life, that it cannot be removed from its place of growth and set in another place without interfering, for a time, with the regular operation of its vital forces. For this reason the transplanting should be done at a season when the vital forces are least active, and care should be taken to avoid as much as possible all injury to the roots of the tree both in taking it up and in resetting it. The time between the two operations should be as short as possible and during the interval the roots should be entirely protected from both sun and wind by covering them with damp moss or dipping them in a thin mud made by mixing rich soil and water, and then wrapping them with a coarse damp cloth or canvas. If the removal and resetting can be done on a cloudy day so much the better. Not even the fine fibrous rootlets should be allowed to become dry. It would be well if the hole could be prepared in advance for the reception of the tree. Let it be broad enough to receive the roots without any bending or cramping. It may

better be too broad than too narrow and a little deeper around the margin than in the centre. It would be better, if deep enough, that it receive a layer of rich garden soil or leaf mold three or four inches thick on which the tree may stand. A pile of similar soil should be ready as soon as the tree is put in position to sift over its roots and pack down upon and between them. Settle this soil still more about the fibrous roots by giving it a copious sprinkling with a watering pot. Finally fill the hole with soil and cover the surface with a layer of manure to act as a mulch and keep the soil moist about the roots. Put no manure in the hole nor in contact with the roots. Plant no tree so near the school-house that in after years it will unduly shade the windows and darken the schoolroom. Do not plant the trees too close to each other. Give them an abundance of room to form broad, well-shaped heads. Before taking up the tree to be transplanted it is well to cut away any slender, feeble, irregular or superfluous branches in order to reduce the head to good shape and to diminish the demand that would otherwise be made upon the roots for support at a time when they are not able to supply the usual amount of moisture and nourishment. If the tree is an evergreen with a leading shoot do not by any means cut back or injure the leading shoot. Cut out the feeble branches and the irregular ones that may have grown between the nodes,

cutting them close to the trunk that the wound may quickly heal.

The following native trees and shrubs are among the best for transplanting in our school grounds: white pine, balsam fir, tamarack, basswood, tulip tree, sugar maple, silver maple, wild black cherry, chestnut, paper birch, cranberry tree, winterberry.

DRAPER'S "TEN COMMANDMENTS" ON TREE PLANTING

I. Do not allow roots to be exposed to the sun, drying winds, or frost.

2. Prune, with a sharp clean cut, any broken or injured roots.

3. Have the holes large enough to admit all the roots without cramping.

4. Plant in fine loam, enriched with thoroughly decomposed manure.

5. Do not allow any green unfermented manure to come in contact with roots.

6. Spread out the roots in their natural position and work fine loam among them, making it firm and compact.

7. Do not plant too deep. Let upper roots be set an inch lower than before.

8. Remove all broken branches, and cut back at least one-half of the previous year's growth of wood.