The common practice of undercutting seedlings during the dormant season to induce a branched root system requires additional labor, and often results in reduced growth and vigor during the following season. The use of hardware cloth or other close-meshed wire is effective, but this method also has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive for the nurseryman. Preliminary work carried on during the past two years has shown that with certain nut trees and other tap-rooted plants, it is possible to induce fibrous roots by growing such seedlings in vermiculite. The methods and results of this work are presented in this paper. Material and Methods Seeds of black walnut (_Juglans nigra_), Persian walnut (_Juglans regia_), Chinese chestnut (_Castanea mollissima_), pignut hickory (_Carya glabra_), shellbark hickory (_Carya laciniosa_), shagbark hickory (_Carya ovata_), pecan (_Carya illin_), pawpaw (_Asimina triloba_), and three persimmons (_Diospyros kaki_, _D. lotus_, and _D. virginiana_) were stratified in moist sawdust for three months at a temperature range of 35 to 40 degrees F. After this period of stratification the seeds of each species were divided into three lots and planted in flats 25 x 26 x 6 inches containing one of the following media: (1) sharp sand of the type used in potting soil, (2) potting soil, and (3) vermiculite. Seeds were kept moist with ordinary tap water and allowed to germinate and grow in the greenhouse. When the seedlings had grown two or three true leaves, they were carefully removed from the medium and examined for the type of root system developed. Results In the first eight species listed in Table 1, the differences between branched and tap-rooted seedlings were quite pronounced. The few tap-rooted seedlings growing in vermiculite medium showed some laterals and were less strongly tap-rooted than those in soil or sand. Pawpaws in soil and sand media were practically devoid of laterals, and their fibrous root system in vermiculite was not as pronounced as with the walnuts, hickories, and pecans. Of the species studied, the persimmons Table 1. Sand Soil Vermiculite Species Number of plants Tap rooted Fibrous Tap Fibrous Tap Fibrous