FROM THE NURSERY Nursery trees have been grown in rich soil and cultivated as they grew. Their root systems are, or should be, compact because the trees have been transplanted yearly in the nursery rows.
First-class trees cost a little more than second-class, but are cheaper in the end.
Nursery trees are delivered for fall or spring planting. If in fall, they should come early enough for the roots to become established in the ground before winter. For spring planting they should arrive early enough to be planted and have the ad vantages of early sunshine and shower in getting a good start during this first year in their permanent places.
Nurserymen ship trees in boxes or bundles, tied securely, their roots wrapped in damp straw or other It is too expensive to ship much dirt. Trees often arrive before it is fit weather to plant them. The care of them during this interval is important. They should be "puddled" and "heeled in." Before the boxes are unpacked, and the bundles loosened by cutting their cords, a trench is dug with a sloping side away from prevailing winds. A pot hole is dug and a thin batter of
mud prepared in it. Into this puddle the trees are dipped, a few at a time, and stirred about until every root has a mud coating. Now they are laid in the trench, their tops away from the wind, and a cover of earth shovelled over the roots. In this trench they are safe and comfortable until planting time comes.
Below are some rules for tree planting. They apply to all trees, and involve considerable more painstaking than some trees demand. But it is doubtful whether the man who expects the best results will dare to take less time and trouble than is here advised. After all, it is almost as easy to plant a tree right as to plant it wrong. If it is worth while to invest in a tree at all it is worth while to plant it well, inasmuch as tree planting is a job which if done well need not be done over for a century or two.