476 APPENDIX. 



Steuart, made its appearance some ten years ago, not only describing 

 minutely the whole theory of transp.anting nearly full grown trees, but 

 placing before its readers a report of a committee of the Highland 

 Society of Edinburgh attesting the complete success of the practice, 

 as exemplified in the woods, copses, and groups, which, removed by 

 the transplanting machine, beautified with their verdure and luxuriance 

 the baronet's own park, the whole matter of transplanting was appa- 

 rently cleared up, and numbers of individuals in this country, with san- 

 guine hopes of success, set about the removal of large forest trees. 



Of the numerous trials made upon this method, with trees of extra 

 size, we have known but a very few instances of even tolerable success. 

 This is no doubt owing partly to the want of care and skill in the 

 practical part of the process, but mainly to the ungenial nature of our 

 climate. 



The climate of Scotland during four-fiftiis of the year is, in some 

 respects, the exact opposite of that of the United States. An atmo- 

 sphere which, for full nine months of the twelve, is copiously charged 

 with fogs, mist, and dampness, may undoubtedly be considered as the 

 most favorable in the world for restoring the weakened or impaired 

 vital action of large transplanted trees. In this country, on the con- 

 trary, the dry atmosphere and constant evaporation under the brilliant 

 sun of our summers, are most important obstacles with which the 

 transplanter has to contend, and whicii render complete success so 

 much more difficult here than in Scotland. And we would therefore 

 rarely attempt in this country the extensive removal of trees larger than 

 twenty feet in height. When of the size of fifteen feet they are suf- 

 ficiently large to produce very considerable immediate effect, while they 

 are not so large as to be costly or very difiicult to remove, or to suffei 

 greatly by the change of position, like older ones. 



The great want of success in transplanting trees of moderate size 

 in this country arises, as we conceive, mainly from two causes ; the 

 first, a want of skill in performing the operation, arising chiefly from 

 ignorance of the nature of the vital action of plants, in roots, branches, 

 etc., and the second, a bad or improper selection of subjects on which 

 the operation is to be performed. Either of these causes would ac- 

 count for bad success in removals ; and where, as is frequently the 



