282 



THE CARDESER'S MO.XTJILY 



\^Scptcmber, 



"Some three years ajio I eomineneed to set 

 out some l2(K)aere.sof EuealyiUus trees. I raised 

 the phints aiul put them in boxes :2(In'24, scttiui: 

 them two iuehes apart — the usual plan. To act 

 them tint in the liekl, and not irrigate, and do 

 the worli rapidly, was the question. Tlie result 

 was tills transplanter. AVith it, one man will 

 take the hoxes of plants and set out 600 to 1,000 

 trees per day, nine feet apart. I set out over 

 lUO.OUO plants, and not one plant in lno will die 

 from transplanting." i 



The way it is done is thus described : "The | 

 transplanter is tirst used to cut a hole in the 

 ground or in a box of dirt, where you want to 

 set the plant. Xext the transplanter is set down 

 over the plant so that the top of the plant runs up 

 inside of the inside cylinder. The outer cylinder 

 then pressed down into the ground, giving it a 

 slight rotary motion, until you have cut to the 

 depth desired, generally two or four inches. In 

 pressing down on the handles, care must be 

 taken to keep the hands oft' from the inside cyl- 

 inder, which must be left loose so as to move 

 freely. The rotary motion gives a sharp draw- , 

 ing cut. After cutting down around the plant to 

 the depth desired, lift the transplanter out of the 

 ground. It will bring up the plant with a solid 

 plug of earth inside the cylinder. Xow put the 

 transplanter containing the plant into the hole 

 in the ground ( or box ) tirst cut. Set it 

 down to the bottom of the hole so that the 

 bottom of the plug of earth rests on the bot- 

 tom of the hole; place the two thumbs 

 on top of the inside cylinder, retaining the 

 hold on the handles with the fingers, and 

 close the hand, thus drawing up the outside cyl- 

 inder while the inside cylinder thus holds the 

 plug of dirt in the hole. The plug of dirt is 

 thus forced out of the transplanter as the wad is 

 forced out of a pop-gun. AVhen this is done, the 

 plant with a solid plug of earth will be left in a 

 hole surrounded b}' unmoved dirt. Pour a trifle 

 of water around the plant, which runs loose 

 earth into the little crevices around the plug, 

 and the work is completed. After a few experi- 

 ments the work can be performed with great 

 rapidity." 



Plants two inches apart, and boxes twent}' b}' 

 twenty-four gives us one hundred plants to the 

 box, ten boxes to a day's work. These plants 

 are set out nine feet apart on a piece of ground, 

 -say near two miles long. The boxes must be 

 set down to begin with, one about every one 

 thousand feet apart to be ready for the " trans- 



jilanter." Going to set the boxes would, in this 

 part of the world, use up a good hour, eveu 

 with the help of a horse and wagon, and 

 some little time to put the wagon away. 

 Then when we begin to use the box, and 

 set the i)lant nine feet ofi", and the next 

 one eighteen feet and the next twenty-seven, we 

 have to run back and forth to the box a consider- 

 able number of times, or else pick up that box 

 every time and chuck it nine feet, besides haul- 

 ing our " transplanter" along. At any rate, it 

 is safe to say that the time spent in connecting 

 the box of phints with each hole is equivalent 

 to lifting the box, carrying it nine feet and put- 

 ting it down again. AVe will give half a minute 

 for this, though it is doubtful whether this could 

 be continuously done at this rate, but if it could 

 it takes nine hours for the one thousand trees. 

 Then for making the hole, ejecting the dirt, 

 boring for the plant in the box, replacing it in 

 the hole, treading it in, to say nothing of "pour- 

 ing a trifle of water about it," will at least occupy 

 a minute to each plant, and we have seventeen 

 hours more. These figures, and they will be 

 conceded to be very undei'-rate for the work done, 

 will give us some idea of the great length of a 

 day in California. They have the great Pears, 

 the mammoth trees, and there is no reason why 

 not the huge day for the huge Eucalyptus. 



For Farmers. — The daily papers have the 

 following: "Ex-Governor R. A\^ Furnas, of Ne- 

 braska, has had to sell both his farm and his 

 city residence. Tor sixteen long, long years,' he 

 says, ' have I struggled to make these two homes. 

 It was my ambition to have the largest and best 

 orchard and nursery in the State, and I had just 

 accomplished my aim ; had just begun to reap 

 the reward of my incessant labors, and now it is 

 my misfortune to have it torn from me. I tell 

 you candidly, next to the death of my children, 

 this is the saddest affliction of my life.' " 



We print this because we know the whole hor- 

 ticultural fraternity will sympathise with Gov. 

 Furnas. There are few men who have pursued 

 horticulture moi'e intelligently, or whose per- 

 sonal character and reputation are more es- 

 teemed. 



Prof. C. V. Riley. — Those of us who know 

 the great value of Prof. Riley's services to know- 

 ledge, are pleased to read the following compli- 

 ment to him from the London Gardener''s 

 Chronicle : 



" State Entomologists. If we were Americans 



