Page:Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909.pdf/23

Rh planting the soil is not likely to be so dry that trees will not start. Besides insuring a supply of moisture, such cultivation puts the ground in good physical condition for planting.

With this treatment watering will scarcely ever be necessary. If it is, the holes may be dug a few days beforehand and filled with water. They should be refilled as the water soaks away until the soil is fully moistened. A thorough irrigation, when that is possible, is still better. As soon as the soil becomes somewhat dry the trees should be planted. While it is a common custom to water trees at the time of planting, people who do no watering are usually the most successful. Even in the semi-arid regions some successful growers apply no water, but keep up an excellent system of cultivation, thereby retaining the soil moisture.

The spacing of the trees is not so important in school ground planting as in forest plantations, yet it is worth consideration. The trees should not stand so near together as to produce, long slender poles; on the contrary, short, thick trunks are desirable, to support large tops and withstand heavy winds. From 8 to 12 feet apart will be suitable spacing distance. Where large blocks are to be planted the trees may be closer, but it is scarcely ever desirable to plant them closer than 6 by 6 feet.

WHY TREES DIE IN TRANSPLANTING.—To many persons it is a mystery why trees die after being transplanted. They do not die without cause, however, and when one begins to wither something is wrong. Oftentimes the result is not to be noticed until weeks after the injury; in other cases it is apparent in a few days. After the injury has been done it can be overcome only by the subsequent growth of the tree. All the assistance that can be given is to make the surroundings of the tree favorable for growth. The following are some of the causes of death among transplanted trees:

The loss of the principal part of the root system when the tree is being taken up is a great shock to its vitality, and frequently causes its death. A very large part of the root must be cut off, for usually the space surrounding the tree is filled with fibrous rootlets, myriads of which can scarcely be detected by the naked eye. Almost all of these are lost, as well as many of the larger roots. Mr. D. C. Burson, of Topeka, Kan., last year dug up and measured as much as he could of the root system of a vigorous hardy catalpa seedling that had grown from May till November. The six-months-old seedling showed over 250 feet of root growth. By the methods in common use only a fifth, or perhaps as little as a tenth, of the root is taken up with tree in transplanting. Such loss throws the root out of balance with the top. If the top is not shortened, or in some way protected, the leaves may evaporate more moisture than the roots can provide, resulting in the death of the tree.

With proper subsequent treatment a tree can endure the loss of many roots, but instead of the needed protection it often gets much unnecessary exposure to sun and dry air. This may be in digging, packing, shipping, unpacking or any other of the various handlings which it undergoes between its removal from the ground and subsequent planting. On a warm day in March the writer saw a bundle of trees in