TRANSPLANTING AND PLANTING. 



285 



will be three times greater than when the temperature is only 40, the 

 degree of diyness in the air being the same in both cases. So long as 

 the leaves remain on a plant in a healthy state, their functions are 

 performed in a greater or less degree, and they draw upon the roots 

 accordingly ; so that evergreens, as they never lose their leaves, may 

 be said to be in a growing state all the year ; and were the growth not 

 much slower in autumn and winter than it is in summer, it would 

 be as difficult to transplant evergreen trees, even at that season, as it 

 is to transplant deciduous trees in summer with the leaves on. The 

 first effect of separating a plant from the soil, is to cut off the supply 

 of sap to the leaves ; and as, notwithstanding this, perspiration and 

 evaporation will still continue, it follows that these leaves must fade, 

 unless the perspiration is either checked by a moist atmosphere, or 

 supplied by watering the roots. That the atmosphere in Britain is 

 nearly saturated with moisture from October to February inclusive, is 

 satisfactorily proved by the tables drawn up by Mr. Robert Thompson, 

 of the Horticultural Society's Garden. These tables show the atmo- 

 spheric moisture for the different months of the year, as under : 



As evergreens can hardly be said to have a season of rest, it is of the 

 utmost importance that their roots be not dried, nor exposed to the 

 air during their removal. As soon as the plant has been put into its 

 place, the earth should be filled in, leaving a sufficient hollow round 

 the stem, and as far out as the roots extend, to hold water, which 

 should then be poured in, in sufficient quantity to soak the ground 

 down to the lowest part of the roots ; in short, the whole should be 

 made like a kind of puddle. By this practice, which is particularly 

 necessary in spring, summer, and autumn planting, the earth is carried 

 down by the water, and every crevice among the roots is filled. Care 

 must always be taken to have as much earth above the roots of the 

 plants as will prevent them from being exposed when the water has 

 subsided. After the first watering has dried up, the earth should be 

 levelled round the stem of the plant, and as far out as the water has 



