PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING : Page 80

Fertilizing Transplanted Stock. In using fertilizers it is notadvisable to apply them in any quantity so that they will come indirect contact with the roots of newly transplanted stock. It is alwaysessential for plants to become established before they can make use of afertilizer; otherwise injury may result. Until a tree makes a newterminal bud on the second growth its root system has not becomeestablished nor has it developed fibrous feeding rootlets sufficient tosupport the tree. A safe recommendation is that fertilizers should beso distributed in the soil surrounding the roots of transplanted stockthat the food can become available as soon as the roots have startedgrowth. In transplanting nursery trees and large trees a slow-actingfertilizer, such as bone meal, can be used in the soil around the roots,because the fertilizer will become available at the time when the treehas developed some of its new root growth.