(Arbor Day)
_The life of a tree depends largely on the way it starts._
Once there was a man who wanted to plant an orchard of apple trees.
He sent to a nursery for some young plants, and when they came all
wrapped up in a good bundle, he thought of what fine trees he was
going to have, and the beautiful apples they would bear.
The bundle came just about the time the man was starting to town
on some business. So he sent off at once for a man who knew how to
plant trees, and said to him, “Here are my young apple trees, and
I want you to plant them for me. I shall be gone all day,” and he
showed the man where to plant them.
When he came back later in the afternoon the man had planted only
six trees. The owner was surprised, and said, “You have planted but
six trees. It seems to me you work very slowly.”
The man replied, “Yes, but I do my work thoroughly. You see I
dug great holes so that the roots of the young trees might not be
broken or cramped; then I hauled rich earth from the woods, and
mixed it well with the top soil; then I packed the earth carefully
around the roots so that it would be firm; and then I watered each
plant until it was thoroughly soaked. All that takes time, and one
must not be in a hurry about planting a tree if he expects it to
live and flourish.”
“That sounds very fine,” said the owner, “but it is too slow a way
for me. I could have planted five times as many in a day. You take
too much trouble.” So he dismissed the man and the next day he
planted his orchard in his own way.
He dug the holes just large enough to hold the roots by twisting
them together, and many of the rootlets were broken or injured as
they were forced into place; he did not get the soft, rich earth
from the woods, nor was he careful in packing the dirt around the
roots, and then he did not fill the holes with water.
“Now, see there,” he said to himself, “I have planted a whole
orchard in one day.”
But see what happened! The trees the owner planted so carelessly
lived for awhile, and put out a few leaves. They bore some little
apples, and then the owner cut them down. But the six trees the
other man planted grew up strong and healthy. In a few years they
were well shaped and tall and began to bear quantities of the most
beautiful apples. When the owner was an old man they still were
standing, and everybody would say, “What wonderful apple trees!
What splendid fruit!”
But the old man knew he could have had a whole orchard like that if
he had planted them all as the six were planted.