286 



TRANSPLANTING AND PLANTING. 



been put on ; if the plants are large, a second, or even a third watering 

 is sometimes necessary ; but for ordinary-sized plants, one watering is 

 quite sufficient, and after about twenty-four hours, more or less, 

 according to the nature of the soil, the earth about the stem, and over 

 the roots, should be levelled, smoothed, and made tolerably firm, and 

 the surface mulched with littery dung, ferns, leaves, or cocoa-fibre 

 refuse. 



Transplanting Evergreens with Balls. In transplanting evergreens it 

 is desirable to leave as much earth about the roots as possible ; but 

 when treated in the way recommended, the greater part of the earth 

 that may be about the roots is of importance, rather in preserving 

 them from injury during the operation than for any value it may have 

 after the plant has been put into the ground. With large plants it is 

 a safe rule never to move them without keeping a large ball of earth 

 about their roots, and keeping it as entire as possible. 



The machines and implements for transplanting large shrubs with 

 balls need not be on such a large scale as those for transplanting large 

 trees. A contrivance formed of sheet-iron, fig. 256, is of the greatest 

 service ;- a, represents the upper side, #, the under side, and c, a longi- 



Contrivance for transplanting large shrubs with balls. 



tudinal section. A truck with low wheels, and a common hand- 

 barrow, with wooden levers and planks, some strong hay-forks, a 

 mattock to sever any roots that may cross our path, and the pick, d, will 

 also be useful. A pointed crowbar is often of great service in prizing 

 the ball over, in order to get under it. The sheet-iron hand- 

 barrow would be useful in three or more sizes viz., four feet, by two 

 feet six inches ; three feet, by one foot nine inches ; and two feet two 

 inches, by one foot three inches; they should be rounded at the 

 corners, a little turned up at the ends, and strengthened by flat iron 

 bars underneath, carried round near the edges. These iron bars are 

 welded into handles at each end, and the handles are kept above the 

 ground by the ends of the irons being turned up. The ground is 

 opened at a distance from the stem, regulated by the size and nature of 

 the plant intended to be removed, and the fibres are carefully tied up, 



