276 TRANSPLANTING AND PLANTING. 



there is an opportunity, by means of coverings, of preserving a moist 

 atmosphere round plants, and excluding the direct rays of the sun, 

 herbaceous plants of considerable size, with the leaves on, may be 

 transplanted ; but in ordinary weather, and without the aid of protec- 

 tion, this is difficult in proportion to the number and size of the leaves, 

 the thinness of their texture, and the number of their stomata. The 

 evaporation, in cases of this kind, being greater than the absorption by 

 the spongioles, it requires to be lessened by shading, by cutting off a 

 portion of the leaves, by thinning them out, or by cutting them off alto- 

 gether. In general, this latter treatment can only be practised with 

 impunity in transplanting young plants that have fleshy roots, such as 

 the Swedish turnip, the rhubarb, &c. In transplanting seedlings, the 

 top or main perpendicular root is generally shortened to increase the 

 number of lateral spongioles, more especially in the case of vigorous- 

 growing plants. The object of this shortening is, in some cases, to 

 cause the roots to derive their chief nourishment from the upper and 

 richest part of the soil ; and in others, that the plant by having abun- 

 dance of roots in a limited space may be the better adapted for being 

 again transplanted. 



Deciduous trees and shrubs, and perennial herbaceous plants, can 

 only be safely transplanted when in a dormant state. This dormant 

 state is indicated by the fall of the leaf, at which period the roots, 

 stem, and branches contain a greater accumulation of nutritive matter 

 than they do at any other season of the year, and not being in a state 

 of activity, they can exist in a great measure without the assistance 

 of the spongioles. They are, therefore, in a fitter state for being 

 transplanted than they can be at any other period, and the success 

 will in general be in proportion to the number of roots that are taken 

 up entire. 



From October to the middle of December is the best period of the 

 year for the transplantation of all deciduous trees and shrubs. With 

 suitable weather, and if the ground is not too dry, the earlier after the 

 fall of the leaf the tree is moved, the sooner will its normal condition 

 be restored by the formation of fresh roots. Some even prefer trans- 

 planting before the whole of the leaves are shed, as "by the action of 

 the mature leaves which remain, the injuries which the roots may have 

 sustained will be speedily repaired ; new roots will be immediately 

 produced, arid the plant will then become established before winter, 

 and prepared to grow with nearly if not quite its usual vigour in the 

 following spring. (' Gard. Chron.,' vol. i. p. 811.) In the neighbour- 

 hood of London, wall-fruit trees are frequently transplanted in this 

 manner. In transplanting deciduous trees before the leaves are fallen, 

 it is found in practice that the shoots are not ripened, and die back 

 often to a considerable distance, in the same manner as if the leaves 

 had been destroyed by early frost. The young fibres, also, will pro- 

 trude spongioles more quickly in the spring from the fibre that has 

 been well ripened, than from that lifted before ripened. It can only 

 be when the distance of removal is very short, and the plants very 



