TRANSPLANTING OF EVERGREENS 247 



given for them to become settled in the ground before 

 winter. 



We weighed the matter well. The pros in favour of 

 spring planting lay in the fact that rain is very likely 

 to be plentiful in April, and given but half a chance, 

 everything grows best in spring; the cons being that 

 the spring rush is usually overpowering, that in a late 

 season the frost would not be fairly out of the knoll 

 and ground by the fence, where we need a windbreak, 

 before garden planting time, and that during the 

 winter clearing that will take place in the river valley, 

 leaf fires may be started by the workmen that will run 

 up the banks and menace our treasure-trove of ever- 

 greens. 



The pros for August consisted mainly of the pith 

 of a proverb and a bit of mad Ophelia's sanity: 

 "There is no time like the present" and "We know 

 what we are, but know not what we may be!" 



At present we have a good horse, Larry, and plenty 

 of time, the con being, suppose we have a dry, hot 

 autumn. The fact that we have a new water- barrel 

 on wheels and several long-necked water-pots is only 

 a partial solution of the difficulty, for the nearest well 

 is an old-fashioned arrangement with a sweep, located 

 above the bank wall at Opal Farm. This well is an 



