142 



Management of Nurseries. 



straw first on the tops, and lastly on the roots. Then tie t wgether 

 the ends of each of the four strings, which will hold the straw in 

 place. Raise the bundle a few inches by placing beneath it short 

 pieces of scantling, to admit passing the cord under. Then apply 

 the rope connected with the windlass, as shown in Fig. 175, by sim- 

 ply passing it once around the trees. A few turns of the crank will 



Fig. 175- 



draw the bundle with great force compactly together at which place 

 pass a strong cord (one-fourth or one-third of an inch in diameter) 

 and secure it by tying. Slacken the rope ; move truck a foot, tighten 

 the rope again, and add another cord. In this way proceed from 

 bottom to top, till the straw is so firmly secured by the cords, that 

 no handling, however rough, can displace it. By tying 

 each coil, the rest will hold the straw if one happens to 

 become worn off or cut. Add moss to the exterior of the 

 roots, encase the moss in damp straw, and sew on a 

 piece of strong sacking or gunny-cloth, and the bundle is 

 completed, as shown in Fig. 176. 



The former practice among nurserymen was to draw 

 the bundle together by dint of stout pulling by hand ; 

 but the present mode by the use of a windlass, is not 

 only many times more expeditious but much better as it 

 was formerly almost impossible to bind on the straw in 

 so firm and secure a manner, as to withstand all the 

 thumps and rough-and-tumble handling of modern rail- 

 way hands without displacement. 

 Fig. 176. The following dimensions may be useful to those who 

 wish to construct this packing machinery ; Windlass three feet high 

 to top ; posts fifteen inches apart inside ; cylinder four inches in 

 diameter ; rope about eighteen feet long. The truck is about two feet 

 wide between the wheels, eight feet long ; the axles six feet apart ; 

 wheels seven inches in diameter. 



When trees are always boxed, they may be secured advantageously 

 in small bundles by this mode for placing in the boxes. 



