TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



417 



The conditions I allude to are, first, to 

 have the holes dug sufficiently large, and 

 the excavated soil from the holes well pul- 

 verized, and nicely piled by the sides of 

 ihein ; secondly, after the frost is out of the 

 ground, whether March or April, (Februa- 

 ry for further south,) choose a day for taking 

 up the trees which will be succeeded by a 

 cold freezing night ; commence by cutting 

 with a sharp spade a suitable distance from 

 the trees, so as to lift them with a ball of 

 soil attached to the roots, proportioned, to 

 the size of the trees ; after, leave them 

 through the night, the trees lying upon the 

 ground, so as to expose the ball of earth to 

 the action of the frost. Early next day, 

 with wagon or other stntable conveyance, 

 lift the trees, and transport before the fro- 

 zen earth thaws. Throw in the holes suf- 

 ficient of the excavated soil to bring the 

 trees to the right depth; after the trees are 

 placed, fill up with the soil, and dash on a 

 few buckets of water to fill up all intersti- 

 ces about the roots ; and, believe me, the 

 trees will scarcely at all feel the removal, 

 and will grow nearly as well as if they had 

 remained in their native localities. I ought 

 to add, — provided you do not remove with 

 the knife, or saw, too many of their " ne- 

 ther limbs ;" as severe pruning of this kind 

 is pretty certain death to evergreens. 



You will perceive this method possesses 

 many advantages over that of cutting, or 

 digging up trees in the coldest winter 

 months, when the ground is frozen as hard 

 as a rock. 



Last spring, several persons in the vil- 

 lage near where I reside, at much expense 

 of time and labor, transplanted from their 



native localities a large number of beautiful 

 Fir trees into their door yards, and about 

 their grounds ; some of them sixteen feet 

 high. I saw the trees as they were brought 

 into the village on wagons. Many of the 

 large roots were cut ofl!' to the length of 

 eighteen inches from the base of the trees ; 

 and all the roots were as bare of soil as the 

 limbs were. I remarked to the persons 

 engaged in transplanting the trees, that 

 they were laboring in vain ; and, instead 

 of planting them in their grounds, they had 

 better throw them on the brush heap. 

 They thought otherwise. Their door yards 

 presented a fine appearance till about mid- 

 summer, when a sad change came over the 

 symmetrical Firs. Every tree, except one, 

 died before autumn. These men will never 

 again be caught ti'ansplanting evergreen 

 trees, until they can obtain more correct 

 notions about the art. 



Last spring 1 transplanted quite a num- 

 ber of Hemlock, Spruce, Fir, Larch, White 

 and Norway Pines, from six to ten feet 

 high. They were all taken up with a ball 

 of earth about the roots, but not frozen. 

 They have flourished the past summer ea> 

 actly in proportion to the quantity of soil 

 attached to the roots. The Norway Pines, 

 about a dozen in number, grew on a drier 

 and more gravelly soil than the others ; and 

 by the jolting of the wagon, most of the 

 soil dropped from their roots, and only two 

 of the number lived through the summer. 

 Had I taken the course recommended in 

 this paper, I have no doubt every tree 

 would have lived. Yours, &c. 



Levi Bartlett. 



Warner, N. H., January 2G, 1848. 



VOL. II. 



53 



