376 ON TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



beneficial, and we think it indispensible to the success of the 

 process of transplantation. Usually in the autumn, prior to the 

 season in which the tree is to be lifted, or in the previous spring 

 if the operation is to be conducted in autumn, a trench of about 

 two feet in breadth is dug, about six feet in diameter (if the tree 

 be not more than twelve feet in height) around the stem, care 

 being taken, when the pit has been formed to a depth of two 

 feet under the surface of the ground, to slope it inwards on all 

 sides towards the trunk, so as to undermine the root-ball, and 

 the numerous rootlets and fibres. Into this trench a supply 

 of well-rotted turf, previously mixed and amalgamated with lime, 

 is thrown and firmly beat in towards the roots. By this adven- 

 titious application, a fast and free propulsion of young roots is 

 induced, and the task of removing is very much lightened when 

 the period arrives for executing it. 



Another mode of preparation is, however, even better adapted 

 for attaining the end in view. By the method already described, 

 injury is frequently done by injudiciously trenching too near the 

 root, and this is sometimes more serious than the transplanting 

 process itself. Instead, therefore, of cutting the roots all round 

 the plant at once, we recommend in the autumn of one season to 

 dig round them on one side of the tree only, and to fill in the 

 compost referred to; and in the following autumn to dig similarly 

 round those on the other side, thus completing the trenching 

 process, and in the succeeding season the removal of the tree 

 may be proceeded with. In this way a gradual and less severe 

 interference is attempted, and the system of the tree is permitted 

 to recover from each successive curtailment of root, prior to its 

 final transportation to a new site. 



Care is to be taken in removing a tree thus " prepared," not 

 to dig the root-ball tvithin the line of the trench, but outside of 

 it, so as to include the freshly added soil, and if it be deemed 

 desirable to lighten the ball, any loose earth should merely be 

 picked away, a part of the operation which must be abandoned 

 as soon as the points of the rootlets are seen protruding. 



In transplanting, the first care of the workmen is to dig a 

 trench around the plant at a radius of not less than six feet from 

 the stem. Having done so to a depth of about two feet to two 

 feet and a half, the points of the spades may be directed inwards 

 towards the root of the tree, and having thus disengaged the 

 plant from its moorings, it may be carefully lifted, if the distance 

 be short, to its new position. 



Should the ball be composed of such earth as is apt to crack 

 or break away, it should, before being lifted out of the trench, be 

 properly secured by boards roughly nailed around it, after having 

 been carefully tied together and sewn up in matting, and 

 damped. 



