354 THE FLORIST. 



remained in flower till the end of September, and were 

 acknowledged by all wlio saw tliem to be superior to anything 

 they had before seen, both in size of plants and abundance of 

 flowers. They were grown in very sandy loam, with a little peat, 

 and were plentifully supplied with water while growing. His 

 roots are now three to four inches in diameter, and he declares it 

 was the cheapest packet of seed he ever purchased. 



ON TRANSPLANTING. 



The short comment at the close of an article in your last monthly, 

 entitled " Notes on the Month," induces me to send you a few hints of 

 my own on Planthig, derived from a long practice in that line of gar- 

 dening. The paragraph I allude to will be found at page 349 of your 

 last number, and commences wdth " Much has been written, &c." 

 The writer, after alluding to what has been written on the subject, says, 

 *' As if there could be much doubt among sensible men on the point." 

 Just so. Among sensible men (that is, I presume the waiter meant 

 among really practical men) there cannot be a question but that, 

 speaking generally, autumn is the best time for transplanting both 

 deciduous and evergreen trees. All the experience I have had goes to 

 prove this ; but in the meantime 1 have been very successful with 

 spring planting, and. therefore I trouble you with the results of my 

 practice generally, prefacing my observations by endorsing what the 

 writer in question has to say in concluding his article, which conveys a 

 just rebuke to many of our theoretical writers, who are much too apt to 

 consider that operations in gardening can be taught by rule, or carried 

 out as a man would make a machine ; forgetting, or being unwilling to 

 admit, that the practice of gardening, to be successful, must depend on 

 many causes, which practice alone can teach. 



I well remember, a few years back, one writer in the Gardeners 

 Chronicle (I think) recommended us to commence in August, and we 

 hear Mr. Barron, of Elvaston, has been successful with planting even 

 at Midsummer. This may be, but I think it going to extremes, and 

 unsafe in nineteen cases out of twenty. For planting evergreens I 

 certainly prefer October and the end of April and first half of May, 

 especially if, at this latter season, there is a dampish atmosphere. 

 • In the autumn, as soon as the young wood of the current year 

 approaches to ripeness, or becomes hard, trees of this class are then in 

 the best order for removal. During the early part of summer (say up 

 to July) the tree is making its growth, the ascending sap is in great 

 activity, having to provide food for the leaves to assimilate into woody 

 tissues, of which a considerable portion is wanted to give solidity to the 

 young wood. After July this is perceptible by the gradual hardening 

 of the young shoots, which, if other circumstances are favourable, 

 become well ripened, i. e., firm and hard, by the beginning of October. 

 The supply of crude sap being less and less required, as the growth 



