56 The Garden. 



The fundamental principle to be generally observed in trans- 

 planting is to head back the top of the tree in proportion to 

 the loss of root that it has sustained by being removed. 



Some fruit-trees may be moved much more easily than 

 others. Downing arranges them with reference to this point 

 in the following order : Plums, quinces, apples, pears, peaches, 

 nectarines, apricots, and, last and most difficult, cherries. It 

 is an invariable rule, that tlie larger the tree the less the chances 

 of success. In the northern parts of the United States smaU 

 trees should always be set in the spring. 



Medium-sized trees — say five to ten feet high — may be set 

 equally well either in the autumn or spring. Trees of large 

 size should be moved late in autumn, in the winter, or quite 

 early in the spring. 



The evergreen tribe are, however, best planted out just as 

 their buds begin to swell in the spring; but they are some- 

 times successfully set in autumn, and also during the last of 

 May and first of June. If their roots are exposed to dry, 

 out of the ground, they are almost certain to die. 



VI.— WATERING. 



"Watering, like every other operation in gardening, has its 

 rules, founded on the general principles laid down in our first 

 and second chapters. The most important points to be remem- 

 bered are : 1. That on the nature of the plant, the stage of 

 its growth, and the dryness or dampness of the atmosphere 

 depends the quantity of water required; 2. That the soil 

 should never be saturated with water, too much moisture 

 proving injurious as well as too little; 3. That the water 

 should not be applied at the base of the stem, as it is through 

 the extremities of the rootlets mainly that it must be taken up, 

 and these, except in tap-rooted plants, are at a greater or less 

 distance from the original starting-point ; 4. That in summer, 

 the proper time for watering plants is evening, but that in 

 colder weather it is better to water them at mid-day ; 5. That 

 rain water is better than well or spring water, and that when 



