TRANSPLANTING AND PLANTING. 277 







small, and lifted with the earth adhering to the roots, that the trans- 

 planting of deciduous plants in autumn, before ripe, can be attended 

 with any advantage. In the nurseries we have great experience of 

 lifting and moving immense quantities of deciduous plants, and ex- 

 perience must say that, unless during mild winters, little root-growth 

 is made until the spring season has commenced. Unless the winter is 

 more than ordinarily mild, the spongioles are never seen to protrude, nor 

 the buds to swell, till the spring begins to advance. Different plants com- 

 mence their season of growth at different periods. Gooseberries, cherries, 

 thorns, birch, larch, &c. may begin to move in February or March; beech, 

 oaks, apples, &c. are later, and seldom begin to show much before April or 

 May. Even the mezereon, which often flowers in February, is seldom 

 found to protrude new roots before that period. Of course the period will 

 vary as to localities ; some soils and situations are more than a month 

 earlier than others within very short distances. Autumn planting is 

 preferable where the soil is dry, as it washes the soil closer to the 

 root ; where the soil is clayey, and the weather soft at planting time, 

 it gets into a state of puddle and rots the roots in winter ; and, unless 

 the weather is dry at planting time in autumn, such soils had better be 

 deferred till spring. A second argument in favour of autumn-planting 

 is the dampness of the atmosphere which prevails at that season and 

 during winter ; by which the perspiration through the bark is lessened, 

 and the demand made on the roots to supply the waste is consequently 

 diminished. In spring, not only is the sun more powerful, but drying 

 winds generally prevail, which have a constant tendency to drain the 

 young branches of a tree of their moisture. These drying winds are 

 much more injurious to newly transplanted evergreens than to deci- 

 duous trees, as will afterwards appear. 



Different Modes of Transplanting Large Trees and Shrubs. To lessen 

 the injuries which every large tree must receive in transplanting, from 

 the mutilation of its roots, six different modes of performing the opera- 

 tion have been adopted: viz., 1, by retaining large balls of earth 

 attached to the roots ; 2, by previously preparing the roots, so as to 

 furnish them with new fibres and spongioles; 3, by previously short- 

 ening the roots, and treating them so as to heal over and granulate the 

 wounds made in their extremities ; 4, by simply thinning and pruning 

 the roots and the branches at the time of transplanting ; 5, by removal 

 without previous preparation ; and 6, by shortening the roots and 

 heading in the branches. 



Transplanting with Large Balls of Earth. In this case the head of 

 the tree is generally preserved entire, and the ball of solid soil is made 

 so large as to include as many of the roots as possible. It is then 

 carefully planted in fresh rich soil, consolidated by watering, and 

 secured by stakes, by guy ropes, wires, iron rods, or by any other 

 means that will render it immovable. This stability of the root is the 

 first step to success, as, if the tree moves with every wind, the roots 

 will undergo an alternate process of growth and destruction, and the 

 tree must perish. A good deal likewise depends on climate, soil, and 



