thods of planting the little trees, the following
suggestions may prove of value. As soon as the plants are received,
they should be taken from the box and dipped in a thick puddle of
water and loam. The roots must be thoroughly covered with the mud.
Then the bundles into which the little trees are tied should be
loosened and the trees placed in a trench dug on a slant. The dirt
should be placed over the roots and the exposed parts of the plants
covered with brush or burlap to keep away the rays of the sun.

When ready for planting, a few plants are dug up, set in a pail with
thin mud at the bottom and carried to the place of planting. The
most economical method of planting is for one man to make the holes
with a mattock. These holes are made about a foot in diameter, by
scraping off the sod with the mattock and then digging a little hole
in the dirt underneath. A second man follows with a pail of plants
and sets a single plant in this hole with his hands, see Fig. 129,
making sure that the roots are straight and spread out on the bottom
of the hole. The dirt should then be packed firmly around the plant
and pressed down with the foot.

Improvement by cutting: The removal of certain trees in a grove is often
necessary to improve the quality of the better trees, increase their
growth, make the place accessible, and enhance its beauty. Cutting
in a wooded area should be confined to suppressed trees, dead and
dying trees and trees badly infested with insects and disease. In
case of farm woodlands, mature trees of market value may be cut, but
in parks and on private estates these have a greater value when left
standing. The cutting should leave a clean stand of well-selected
specimens which will thrive under the favorable influence of more
light and growing space. Considerable care is required to prevent
injury to the young trees when the older specimens are cut and
hauled out of the woods. The marking of the trees to be removed can
best be done in summer when the dead and live trees can be
distinguished with ease and when the requisite growing space for
each tree can be judged better from the density of the crowns. The
cutting, however, can be done most advantageously in winter.

Immediately after cutting all diseased and infested wood should be
destroyed. The sound wood may be utilized f