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A bushel basket or two may come in handy, as will be explained.
2nd season If your prize is three inches thick at the height of your hip, sink your trench around it at a distance of fifteen inches from the trunk and down to where you encounter no more roots. (See Fig. l7.) Cut off each large root cleanly. If it is an inch or more thick, paint its raw end. Remove all removable rocks that you come to and when you have the tree standing clear in its little island, prepare to refill your trench with soil and some kind of mulch. If you are in pastureland, your mulch problem is soon solved. One basketful of dried horse or cattle droppings will be ample. Or gather a couple of basketfuls of leaves or grass, dead or alive, and churn them into your loose soil as you refill and tamp the trench. Now, with your shears and pole-pruner, give the tree a going-over aloft to compensate for the feeders you carved off its bottom. Give it a year to grow a new, concentrated root-ball and your tree will be ready to go home with you. If it is much larger than a three-incher, take its preparation in two bites. This year trench only halfway around, in three equal sectors equally spaced. Next year dig the other three sectors, and take up the tree on your third visit, two years hence. (See Fig. 18.) |
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