44 TRANSPLANTING. [CHAP. III. 



as obvious as that of shading. It is simply 

 to supply the spongioles and leaves with an 

 abundance of food, that the increased quantity 

 imbibed by each may, in some degree, compen- 

 sate for the diminished number of spongioles. 



All plants will not bear transplanting, and 

 those that have taproots, such as the carrot, are 

 peculiarly unfitted for it. When plants having 

 taproots are transplanted, it should be into very 

 light soil, and what is called a puddle should 

 be made to receive them. To do this, a hole 

 or pit should be formed, deeper than the root 

 of the plant, and into this pit water should be 

 poured, and earth thrown in and stirred, so as 

 to half-fill it with mud. The taprooted plant 

 should then be plunged into the .mud, shaking 

 it a little so as to let the mud penetrate among 

 its fibrous roots, and the pit should be then 

 filled in with light soil. The plant must after- 

 wards be shaded longer than is usual with other 

 plants ; and, when water is given, it should be 

 poured down nearer to the main root than in 

 other cases, as the lateral fibrous roots never 

 spread far from it. Plants with spreading roots, 

 when transplanted, should have the pit intended 

 to receive them made shallow, but very wide in 

 its diameter ; so that the roots may be spread 

 out in it to their fullest extent, except those 

 that appear at all bruised or injured, which, as 

 before directed, should be cut off with a sharp 

 knife. 



It is a general rule, in transplanting, never 

 to bury the collar of a plant; though this rule 

 has some exceptions in the case of annuals. 



