550 



TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



hardly be killed under any circumstances.) 

 Care, we know, is necessary ; and so it is 

 in taking up and transplanting all trees, if 

 the highest degree of success would be ob- 

 tained. This is reasonable ; for men have 

 no right to expect success where they be- 

 stow no pains. But to our experience with 

 evergreens. 



In our first efforts in their cultivation, we 

 had heard different seasons recommended 

 as the best for their removal. In order to 

 satisfy ourselves on this point, we have tried 

 each month, from September to June inclu- 

 sive, and with very fair success. So we 

 are able to say, that with proper care they 

 may be removed in any of the autumn 

 months, in any part of the winter, whether 

 the ground is frozen or not, and through all 

 the busy bustling spring and early summer, 

 at just such times as the convenience of the 

 operator may dictate. For the very best 

 time, as our labors will warrant, we would 

 recommend that, when the bud is fairly 

 bursting; and from that until the new 

 growth has attained an inch in length. We 

 have put them out when the new branches 

 were three or four inches long, and the 

 temperature of the atmosphere so high that 

 they would wilt before reaching home, and, 

 by copious watering for a few days, have 

 those branches assume their usual position, 

 and continue their growth. "We have also 

 had instances where these drooping extremi- 

 ties would dry up in spite of our labors to re- 

 suscitate, and seen new ones shooting forth 

 from buds which had hitherto lain dormant, 

 and might never have been called into ac- 

 tion, had not a necessary cause appeared 

 to push them forward. The better time, 

 however, is before they advance in growth 

 SCI far as to have new wood, which, in its 

 first stages, is so tender and herbaceous, of 

 sufficient length to droop. 



Our method of taking up and putting out 



again is somewhat like that of your corres- 

 pondents, to whom allusion has been made. 

 We get our trees from open lands, or 

 sparsely wooded grounds, when we can. 

 In this region, the fir, whose beauties all 

 admire, is often found growing in old pas- 

 tures on the high mountains. These pas- 

 ture lands have a cold, moist, shallow soil, 

 underlayed with an almost impermeable 

 subsoil. In such localities, where the roots 

 from necessity run horizontally and near 

 the surface, there is but little difficulty in 

 taking them up without loss of fibres or 

 earth, especially if we take that sharp edg- 

 ed spade along to cut around the tree. 

 The union between the soil and subsoil is 

 not so close but that they will easily sepa- 

 rate ; and thus a tree may be removed in 

 its native soil almost without loss of fibre. 

 They may be set in a wagon in their grow- 

 ing position, and safely transported, by care- 

 ful driving, to almost any distance. 



Another method of obtaining is, to go into 

 swamp lands, where old logs and stumps 

 are always to be found in abundance ; 

 around and over these is often a shallow 

 stratum of vegetable earth, formed by the 

 decomposition of substances gathered round. 

 From this, evergreens frequently spring ; 

 and as their growth increases, they push 

 their main roots to a deeper and moister 

 soil. We take an axe and cut off these de- 

 scending roots ; after which, by gently rai- 

 sing the tree, you can save a thousand 

 fibres, and all the soil from which the tree 

 drew its first nourishment. This is a very 

 pretty way of obtaining them ; for by it we 

 save all the earth necessary without getting 

 a burdensome quantity to lift. 



In putting out, we have had but little 

 regard to the soil or size of the pit, provi- 

 ded it is large enough freely to admit the 

 roots in their natural position. Soft and 

 light earth should be brought in contact 



