=Staking the Trees.=—Next to careful planting and watering a matter of the most vital importance—but one that, unfortunately, is too often lost sight of—is the efficient staking or otherwise securing of large transplanted trees. The great strain and consequent damage to the roots of large transplants when allowed to rock about with every gust of wind is not only highly injurious, but, viewing the matter from a point of neatness, few things in forestry have a more unsightly or neglected appearance than trees almost blown over by the wind. Various are the methods usually adopted in staking and tying newly-transplanted trees. As no hard and fast lines can be laid down, as a rule, the size of the trees and the exposure of the positions in which they are planted must determine the method of procedure to be adopted. It may be that when growing in a low-lying, sheltered valley, trees of even 8 or 10 ft. in height may be perfectly safe without stake or tie of any kind, whereas others of similar or even smaller size, growing in an open position and exposed to the prevailing winds of the district, will require a mooring of the most secure description, and adjusted in the most efficient manner. For trees and shrubs up to 6 ft. in height, a strong, sharp-pointed stake should be driven firmly into the ground, within about 9 in. of the main stem, and on the most exposed side. The stake should be fully 7 ft. long, and driven, not perpendicularly, but with the head slightly inclined from the tree, and in the direction from which the prevailing winds usually blow. A strong ligature of some kind, such as tarred rope or thick matting, is then placed round the stem of the tree requiring support, at about 4 ft. from the ground, and made fast to the stake at a similar height. By crossing the tie between the tree and stake, a more efficient job results, as there is then less room for the tree to work in when rocking with the wind. It will thus be seen that the nearer to the stem of the tree the stake is placed, the greater will be the power of resistance.