54: ' TheGaeden. 



ure. Moist weather should also, if possible, be chosen for 

 performing the operation. 



As a general rule, in transplanting, the coUar of the root 

 should not be buried. Cabbages, balsams, and some other 

 annuals, which throw out roots above the collar, furnish ex- 

 ceptions ; also pears on quince stocks, which must be set so as 

 to bring the place where the scion is inserted below the surface 

 of the soil. 



The operation of transplanting herbaceous plants should 

 always be performed with a trowel, removing a little baU of 

 earth with the plant. A damp, cloudy day, an evening, or 

 just before a shower, is a favorable time. 



Tap-rooted plants are transplanted with great difficulty, and, 

 if the operation be attempted, should be taken up with a con- 

 siderable ball of earth. 



In transplanting trees much depends upon the knowledge 

 and skill exercised. Thousands of fine trees are lost every 

 year through the ignorance and carelessness of transplanters. 



In taking up a tree or shrub for transplanting, be careful to 

 injure the roots as little as possible. But in all cases the roots 

 wiU be maimed more or less. The feeding power of the tree 

 is to the same extent decreased, and it will not be able to sus- 

 tain the draft made upon it by the stem and~leaves. These 

 must be diminished correspondingly by heading back or short- 

 ening. In preparing a place for the reception of the tree, avoid, 

 if possible, the sites of old trees. Dig a hole considerably 

 larger than the clump of the tree's roots, and from fifteen to 

 twenty inches deep, placing the sods, if in sward land, in one 

 heap, the soil in another, and the subsoil in a third. The hole 

 should be filled with a mixture of the soil, subsoil, and rich, 

 black loam, or well-rotted compost manure, to the height 

 where it is proper to place the tree. With the hand or spade, 

 shape the soil for the roots into the form of a little cone, on 

 which to set the hollow in the center of the clump of roots. 

 If this is done some weeks, or even months, before setting the 

 tree, it will be all the better. 



