298 



ON TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



fills a volume, may be compressed into a 

 paragraph. First, the greatest respect for 

 the roots of a tree, and some knowledge of 

 the functions of the roots and branches ; 

 second, a pair of large wheels, with a strong 

 axle and pole ; third, practical skill and pa- 

 tience in executing the work. 



A great many disciples had Sir Henry ; 

 and we, among the number, bore our share 

 in the purchase of a pair of wheels, and 

 the cost of moving some large trees, that 

 for the most part failed. And now, that 

 Sir Henry's mode has rather fallen into 

 disrepute, and is looked upon as an imprac- 

 ticable thing for this country, it may be time 

 well employed to look a little into the cause 

 of its failure, and also to inquire if it is 

 wholly and entirely a failure for us. 



Undeniably, then, the main cause of the 

 failure, here, of the Scotch mode of trans- 

 planting, lies in the difference of climate. 

 He who knows how much the success of a 

 newly planted tree, of small size, depends 

 on the moist state of the atmosphere, when 

 it begins to grow in its new position, can 

 easily see that its importance is vastly 

 greater to a large tree than a small one. It 

 is the thirst of a giant and the sufferings of 

 a giant, accustomed to a large supply of 

 food, compared with that of a little child, 

 which may be fed by the spoonful. And 

 when we compare the moisture of that fog- 

 gy and weeping climate of Scotia, with the 

 hot, bright, dry atmosphere of the United 

 States, we can easily see that a tree at all 

 stubborn, moved by Sir Henry himself, 

 and inclined to grow, would actually perish 

 from the dryness of the air in mid-summer 

 in our middle states. And such we have 

 found by experiment is actually the case 

 with trees of many kinds, when planted of 

 large size. 



We say of many kinds ; for repeated 

 experiment has proved that a few kinds of 



hardy native trees may be transplanted, 

 even in this climate, with entire success by 

 the Stuart method, or any other that will suf- 

 ficiently preserve the entirenessof the roots. 



Fortunately, the two kinds of trees adopt- 

 ed for removal, when of large size, in our 

 climate, are the two most popular and most 

 valuable for ornamental purposes. We 

 mean the elms and the maples. Few forest 

 trees have more dignity and grace ; none 

 have more beauty of outline than our weep- 

 ing elms and sugar maples, to say nothing 

 of the merits of other varieties of both these 

 trees. And if the possessor of a new place 

 can adorn it with a dozen or two fine spe- 

 cimens of these, of a size to give immedi- 

 ate shelter and effect to the neighborhood 

 of his house, he can then afford to be pa- 

 tient, and enjoy the more gradual process 

 of coaxing smaller specimens into luxuriant 

 maturity. 



The reason why oaks, nut trees, chest- 

 nuts, tulip trees, and the like, when trans- 

 planted of large size, do not succeed here, 

 where elms and maples do, is that the 

 former unluckily have a few strong, or tap- 

 roots, running downwards, while the latter 

 have great masses of fibrous roots, running 

 near the surface of the ground. 



Now a tap-rooted tree, even when small, 

 has a much less amiable disposition when 

 dug up, and asked to grow again, than a 

 fibrous rooted tree ; because, indeed, having 

 fewer small roots, it has only one mouth to 

 supply its hunger, and to gain strength to 

 go on again, where the other has fifty. 

 Hence, though it may, under very favorable 

 circumstances, like the climate of Scotland, 

 overcome all and succeed, yet it is nearly a 

 death struggle to do so in our dry mid- 

 summer air.* It is not worth while to 



* We have found that large oaks, when transplanted, fre- 

 quently live through the first year, but die the second, from 

 their inability to contend against the climate and make uew 

 roots. 



