294 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



up with finely pulverised soil and see that no space 

 is left beneath them. When the roots are fully 

 covered, place about half a bundle of straw or as 

 much hay over the whole surface of the hole and 

 cover it with soil, leaving in spring a little hollow 

 about the tree. If you plant, in the fall, make a 

 little heap of earth about the tree, to turn off the 

 water, and remove it the next spring. The straw 

 will prevent the evaporation of the moisture about 

 the roots, and keep the soil around the tree light for 

 several years; it tends to prevent the growth of 

 weed-; and niass, and admits the free passage of 

 rain, or water artificially applied. Do not omit 

 this precaution; it is almost essential on sandy 

 land. 



Care after planting. — If you plant trees in a 

 public street, do not consider the work complete, 

 until they are protected from animals, as well as 

 from motion by winds, by securing them with 

 stakes, as before suggested. A strip of boaid on 

 Bach of two sides of the tree, or a strip of leather 

 put round it and attached by a wire to each stake, 

 will protect it sufficiently against the racking of 

 the winds, and against roving cattle, which delight 

 to find a new tree to rub against. But we may 

 still utter the prayer. " save us from our friends," 

 for many of them seem to think that trees are 

 principally useful as a means of securing horses. 

 Trees then, near your dwellings, should be boxed 

 up about seven feet high, if you do not intend to 

 lose both your friend and your tree. He will tie 

 his horse to your tree, and the horse, of course. 

 will amuse himself with gnawing the bark. You 

 will be exceedingly vexed, and possibly rude, and 

 will be consoled by the assurance that he never 

 knew his horse to do so before, and you will part, 

 your friend grieved at the accident, and you wish- 

 ing him and his horse at the end of their jour- 

 ney ! 



If a drouth comes in midsummer, such as those 

 forgetful people, the oldest inhabitants, do not re- 

 collect to have seen, and such seasons are nothing 

 unusual, — if then, once a week, you give the trees 

 a copious watering, it will be an act of generosity 

 which they will not forget, but if planted, accord- 

 ing to the foregoing directions, in ordinary situa- 

 tions, nineteen of every twenty of them will live 

 with only the water from the clouds to moisten them. 

 We believe it to be not only unnecessary, but a 

 positive injury to trees, to water them daily. 



Transplanting Evergreens. — There are no 

 trees more beautiful than the Hemlock, the White 

 Pine, the Spruce and the Fir — trees of our own 

 hill-sides, and yet, comparatively, but few of them 

 are seen about our dwellings. The reason is to 

 be found, partly in the want of a just apprecia- 

 tion of what is so common, and partly in the idea 

 that this class of trees cannot be successfully 

 transplanted. — This idea is entirely erroneous. In 

 the month of April, 1847, 140 White Pine trees, 

 from 5 to 8 feet high, were transplanted in Exe- 

 ter, only one of which has died in consequence of 

 the removal. They should be moved in the spring, 



before they have made any growth for the season. 

 In the moist climate of England, the summer is 

 said to be the best season for transplanting ever- 

 greens, but a variety of experiments have satisfied 

 us beyond doubt, that this is not the case here, 

 the method to be pursued is this: Select trees on 

 the open plain, and with a spade cut down round 

 them, leaving a circle of turf two feet or more in 

 diameter about each tree — then lift the tree and 

 set it upright in the wagon, with the ball of earth 

 unbroken. At the place of planting, a hole is to 

 be made to correspond with the ball of earth, the 

 soil at the bottom made light and the tree set in, 

 and with a little earth thrown on and pressed down, 

 the work is done. Care must be taken to load the 

 roots with stones, or by driving a short stake by 

 each tree and confining it, that the wind does not 

 upset it. Evergreens should not be much pruned. 

 Their foliage is covered with a gummy substance, 

 so that evaporation does not go on so rapidly from 

 them as from deciduous trees, and they do not rea- 

 dily recover their beauty of form, if mutilated. 

 Evergreens should be planted in groups, both for 

 beauty, and that they may be partially shaded and 

 sheltered. Plant then the evergreens of our own 

 forest. In no way can bare walls be so readily 

 screened, or the starched and blank landscape so 

 beautifully variegated and adorned, as by setting 

 here and there little oases of the White Pine and 

 Hemlock. 



Transplanting in Winter with balls of Earth. 

 — The best of all methods of moving trees of any 

 kind, is that suggested in the above title. — The 

 process may be described in a few words: — Late 

 in autumn dig a trench completely round the tree, 

 at a distance proportioned to its size, cutting off 

 all the roots, and dig under the tree, but not so as 

 to loosen it; then dig away the earth on one side 

 of the hole, so that a sled or a drag may be back- 

 ed down under it; place some straw or leaves in 

 the bottom of the trench, or cover it with boards 

 that the bottom may not freeze too hard. Leave 

 it until the ball of earth is frozen hard, and when 

 there is a little snow, remove it. It will of course 

 be necessary either to dig the hole for receiving it 

 before the ground is frozen, or to cover the place 

 intended for it with straw, that the hole may be 

 made in winter. In the former case, a few loads 

 of soil with which to fill up, may be kept in a barn 

 cellar, or otherwise protected from frost. Great 

 care should be take.i to fill compactly every cre- 

 vice about the ball in setting, and it is well to con- 

 fine the trees to an upright position, by braces, 

 from the ground against the lower limbs, or by 

 other means, that it may not lean when the frost 

 comes out of the ground in spring. By this pro- 

 cess, we have known Elm trees of 12 and 18 inch- 

 es in diameter, and Hemlocks, 25 feet in height, 

 removed with perfect success. Indeed, if the 

 work is done with skill and care, the tree on awa- 

 king in spring, will scarcely know that it has 

 changed its place, and will soon become entirely 

 reconciled to its new position. In this mode little 



