Transplanting of Large Trees. 



Bv JAMES KAY, FORESTER, BUTE ESTATE, ROTHESAY. 



Having transplanted a number of large plane {Anglice sycamore 

 trees during the last winter and spring months, a short account of 

 our operations may be of interest to the readers of the Journal of 

 Forestry. I may here state that I have been induced to give the 

 following notice of our - transplanting operations fi'om what has 

 appeared in the various journals lately, in regard to the planting of 

 large plane trees, instead of young saplings, along the Boulevards in 

 Paris, and likewise in the neighbourhood of London. It is a some- 

 what remarkable coincidence that the same operations should have 

 been going on simultaneously in Paris and the Western Isles. It 

 would appear, after all, that however necessary it may be for Scottish 

 foresters to have their education and experiences finished on the 

 Continent, they are, nevertheless, capable of performing work equal 

 to their continental brethren ! 



The scene of our transplanting operations was along the side of the 

 public road on the eastern shores of the Island of Bute, near Mount 

 Stuart. We planted three dozen plane trees, averaging from twenty- 

 five to thirty I'eet in height, with stems from six to ten inches in 

 diameter. The trees were mostly taken from detached belts from two 

 to five miles from where they are now planted. The number of 

 trees to many may seem small, but when it is taken into considera- 

 tion that the plantations here are mostly old (from 40 to 160 years), 

 and that it is a difficult matter to get a number of trees of equal 

 size and suitable for transplanting, they being either too much drawn 

 or not well balanced, or in some awkward position for removal, 

 it will be seen that the work of transplanting was not altogether 

 of a light description. 



The trees were removed to their new site with the machine for 

 which I obtained an award from the Scottish Arboricultural Society 

 in 1873. Part of the road along which the trees were taken having 

 a steep incline, four and five horses were used in drawing the machine, 

 while two, and, in some cases, three horses were sufficient for the 

 remaining part of the journey. There being a traction engine on the 

 island, we likewise gave it a trial, but, however effective it may be, it 



