Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1880 — Care of Trees and Shrubs. [ARTICLE]

Care of Trees and Shrubs.

In view of the di-ought which prevails i*} many parts of the country and its,‘unusual severity over extensive districts, the Rural New Yorker suggests to those who have planted trees or shrubs the past spring that there is one method, and so far as we know, says the writer, only one, by which they may be protected against injury or death from that cause. Surface watering has been shown to do more harm than good. The ground is made hard and compact, thus becoming a fetter conductor of heat while it becomes less pervious to air and moisture. A portion of the surface soil should be removed, and then pailful after pailful of water thrown in until the ground, to a depth of two. feet and to a width about the stem of not less than three feet in diameter, has become saturated. Then, as soon as the water has disappeared from the surface, the removed soil should be well pulverized and A covering of boards, straw, or hay, or even of sand or gravel, may then be applied, and the tree or shrub, thus treated, will pass through ten dayß of additional drought in safety. As sqpn as as the rain comes to wet the earth thoroughly we think it is better to remove the mulch. Nothing is then gained by permitting it to remain. Mellowing the surface soil about the trees, thus keeping it free from glass and weeds, is then the most that is - needed. We would repeat that the present is the season when the female borer deposits her eggs on the stems of fruit trees, nnd the wash of lime, potash, sulphur, etc. (darkened with lamp black), should now be applied.