PLANTING. 



239 



PLANTING. 



tlus is commonly performed by 

 making a round liole with a dibber, 

 and putting in the root of the plant 

 to the same depth as it had been 

 covered with earth before, and 

 making it fast by thrusting the dib- 

 ber into the firm earth beside the 

 hole and pressing it to the root. In 

 this operation, the great art is to 

 make the root fast at its extreme 

 points. Thus, in planting common 

 seedlings of annuals, or even cab- 

 bage-plants, if the earth be pressed 

 close to the root at the upper part, 

 and not at the extreme points, the 

 success will hardly be complete ; 

 and in tender plants, or in a dry 

 season, a failure will be the result. 

 In planting plants of a larger size, a 

 small pit should be opened by the 

 spade or the trowel ; the bottom of the 

 pit having been formed into a cone or 

 small hill, the plant should be placed 

 in the centre, and the roots spread 

 out equally over it on every side. 

 The roots are then to be covered 

 with soil, gently pressed over them ; 

 and the operation must be finished 

 l:iy watering, so as to consolidate 

 the soil equally, without making it 

 firmer on one part of the roots than 

 another. If the soil should have 

 been previously dug, trenched, or 

 loosened to the depth of a foot, or 

 probably two or three feet, the pit 

 should not be made so deep as to 

 throw the neck or collar of the plant 

 below, or even on a level with the 

 surface, when the soil is consohdated 

 by watering. On the contrary, it 

 must be left of such a height above 

 it, as that when the soil is finally 

 consolidated by its own gravity, in- 

 fluenced by the weather, the neck 

 shall still be above the general sur- 

 face of the ground, and the plant 

 stand on a small hillock. This con- 

 dition of planting cannot be too 

 strongly attended to ; for n-jthing 

 can be more injurious to trans- 



planted plants than having their 

 necks buried more than they were 

 in a natural state. Nothing is more 

 common than too deep planting; 

 and the temptation to it is greater 

 because deep-planted plants, from 

 having the roots more accessible to 

 moisture, are more certain of grow- 

 ing the first year, and are less in 

 want of mulching to exclude the 

 heat and drought, and of staking to 

 prevent them from being moved by 

 i the wind. Hence, in planting trees 

 j or shrubs, it is of the greatest im- 

 i portance, not only with a view to 

 their future growth, but also to their 

 [ natural appearance above the sur- 

 ! face, to have them planted on little 

 hillocks, greater or less in height 

 according as the soil may have been 

 moved to a greater or less depth, 

 either in the operation of digging 

 the pit in firm soil, or of planting 

 in soil which has been moved by 

 digging, or trenching, or other^ftise. 

 In small gardens it is generally de- 

 sirable, for the sake of producing 

 immediate effect, to plant plants of 

 considerable size ; and in this case, 

 in addition to the precautions which 

 have been already mentioned, it is 

 desirable to plant by what is called 

 : fixing with water. This operation 

 i is performed in the following man- 

 j ner : — the hole being properly pre- 

 i pared, the plant placed in it, and 

 ! the roots spread out on every side, 

 ' and extended as far as they will go, 

 i one person holds the plant upright, 

 { a second sprinkles earth over the 

 I roots, and a third supplies water 

 from a watering-pot with a rose on 

 if the plant be small, and without a 

 j rose if it be a tree of six or eight 

 I feet in height, holding the pot as 

 ! high above his head as his arms will 

 j reach. The weight of the water 

 I coming down from such a height 

 j consolidates the soil about the roots, 

 1 and fixes them in such a manner as 



