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which strain the newly-formed fibres, and, by leaving the earth open round 

 the stem, expose the young roots to the liability of frosts. 



Ornamental planting is, therefore, generally most successfully accom- 

 plished in the spring months. I hold this opinion not theoretically, but from 

 general observation, and would, consequently, suggest the adoption of the 

 following practice. As soon as the plants are matured in growth in the 

 autumn, (if the weather permits), they should be procured from the nurseries, 

 and should be well protected from wind and sun during the process of taking 

 up, and in their journey. They should then be carefully laid in the earth, in 

 some sheltered spot near to where they are to be planted, thinly, in rows,— say 

 three, six, or more inches from plant to plant, and about twelve inches or 

 more from row to row, just as the size of the plants may seem to require, — 

 covering the roots with fine soil, somewhat deeper than what they were in 

 when growing in the nursery. The whole operations should be performed 

 just as if they were permanently planted, excepting that they will protect 

 themselves better if they are laid so that the tops may incline a httle, rather 

 than stand perpendicularly. In the case of more tender plants, the earth 

 between the rows should be thinly covered with leaves or straw. I say thinly, 

 for too much covering would be likely to rot and injure dehcate plants. 



Some persons object to the system of laying plants in the earth prepara- 

 tory to planting, on account of the losses commonly sustained thereby ; and 

 I am not surprised at the objection, for the careless manner in which they are 

 generally put in, sometimes in clusters, and often just as they arrive from the 

 nurseries, tied up in bundles, makes it scarcely possible that any should live. 

 The earth, in many such cases, never touches the roots, and they thus lie so 

 open as to bo destroyed by air, frost, or mould, or perhaps by all combined. 

 The method I have proposed of securing the plants in the autumn, will be 

 found advantageous, inasmuch as many of them will form fibres between the 

 time of being taken up and that of planting, and which, if planted in moist 

 weather, will lay hold of the earth at once. Even should it not be convenient 

 to obtain the plants so early as autumn, by their being secured and carefully 

 laid in before droughty weather in the spring, a great advantage is gained over 

 their being brought from the nurseries at a time when they would be exposed 

 to drought, both in the process of taking them up, and in their conveyance. 

 A lengthened exposure to sun and air is most prejudicial to their vitality. 



