1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



35 



The next season the plants can be well cut in and 

 planted out in the flower border and given the 

 treatment advised for young plants. It seems al- 

 most superfluous to remark that young plants 

 , must be prepared for another winter's bloom. 

 Propagation can be easily effected by cuttings of 

 the half-ripened wood at any time ; also by seeds 

 which are best sown early in March. Sow thinly 

 and cover slightly in a well drained pot or pan of 

 light loamy soil, and place it in any warm moist 

 situation as near the glass as possible. As soon 

 as the young plants are strong enough to handle 

 pot them off" into three-inch pots, keeping them 

 close and moist until well established, then grad- 

 ually expose to the open air and plant out when 

 all danger of frost is over. 



When grown as a pot plant ordinary potting 

 soil will answer very well, but it is essential that 

 the pot be well drained. 



The generic name is derived from " lophos," 

 crest, and " sperma" seed, in allusion to the fact 

 of the seeds being furnished with a crested wing ; 

 and the specific name alludes to the climbing or 

 scandent habit or growth of the plant. 



Queens, N. Y. 



PLANTING LARGE TREES. 



BY FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED. 



of 



Ten years ago more than a hundred trees 

 considerable size (from 20 to 50 inches in girth, or 

 about I foot in diameter on an average), were 

 transplanted on the Capitol grounds. They were 

 not in a thrifty condition, and to adapt them to 

 removal their roots were all cut off at a distance 

 not greater in any case than ji'A feet from the 

 trunk. Their branches were also closely short- 

 ened-in, reducing their heads to from one to two- 

 thirds their original size. It was considered a 

 question whether the trees would retain enough of 

 vital energy to survive, and the operation was 

 often referred to for some years afterwards as an 

 injudicious and disastrous one. It is therefore 

 desirable that attention should be called to the 

 results as now to be observed. 



The condition of two of the trees was regarded 

 at the time as especially hazardous, and these were 

 placed where in case of failure their absence would 

 not be important. 



After three years they were still living, and 

 promising to live, but not to flourish; they there- 

 fore were felled. 



Of the remainder no tree has died as the result 

 of the removal, and those that have escaped serious 



injury from causes not connected with the removal 

 are all now living and in a thriving condition. In 

 general, their heads are much larger as well as 

 much denser than they had been before they were 

 shortened-in, and they are growing more rapidly 

 than before their removal. Their rate of growth 

 is also more rapid than that of trees on the ground 

 of corresponding species and age, that have not 

 been removed ; the reason being that the soil of the 

 latter could not be thoroughly improved without lift- 

 ing them. 



To more distinctly present the degree in which 

 the operation has been successful, twenty of these 

 transplanted trees have been measured, selecting 

 those which, because of their size or other circum- 

 stances, presented the greater difficulties. The 

 measurements are given below, and supply indices 

 of the present thrift of the trees. Similar measure- 

 ments are also given of trees of numerous sorts 

 obtained from commercial nurseries, or from the 

 indigenous woods near. Washington ; these when 

 removed having been generally small saplings. 



Trees of the list A (below) were moved by 

 machine in the fall and spring of l875-'76 and 

 (except a few of the smaller, taken from the 

 Botanic Garden) from a thin soil on a stiff clay 

 subsoil to a prepared soil and subsoil (described 

 page 1 5 of the Report of the Architect of the Capi- 

 tol for 1882). Those from the Botanic Garden were 

 from better soil and more sheltered positions. 



The machine used is described and pictured in 

 the Report on Forestry, prepared under the direc- 

 tion of the Commissioner of Agriculture, pursuant 

 to an act of Congress, approved August 15, 1876, 

 pages 84, 85. The roots of all were cut to "balls" 

 (not frozen), generally of a diameter of 8 feet, none 

 larger. Their heads were shortened-in fully one- 

 third, in some cases two-thirds. Since transplant- 

 ing they have been several times lightly top- 

 dressed and, in periods of severe drought, have 

 been watered. They have had fully the usual 

 struggle with vermin, and most of the elms have 

 this year been denuded of foliage. 



Trees of the list B, except as stated, were planted 

 1876-77. They had been obtained from commer- 

 cial nurseries, largely of Washington and Balti- 

 more, and when planted were saplings from half 

 an inch to an inch and a half in thickness of stem 

 and 3 to 6 feet in height. Those noted as " wild " 

 were obtained from woods near Washington, and 

 several of these being injured or stunted were, the 

 second year, cut to the stumps, and the present 

 growth is from the ground since planting. 



In the column "girth " the circumference of the 



