288 



TRANSPLANTING AND PLANTING. 



laurels, eight feet and nine feet high, and six feet or seven feet in 

 diameter, which cannot be lifted by any strength that can be applied 

 without injury to the ball of earth and roots, are thus moved with 

 great ease and expedition, with large balls of earth, and without any 

 disturbance of the roots; and, consequently, the plants invariably proceed 

 in their growth, often without experiencing the slightest check. The fol- 

 lowing mode of transplanting trees is much practised in Paris, and well 

 worthy the attention of planters in this country. " Round each tree a cir- 

 cular trench is opened large enough for a man to move about in it at his 

 ease. The depth should be equal to that of the deepest large roots, and a 

 ball of earth large enough to ensure the safe removal of the tree should 

 be left. All the smaller roots found in the trench should be carefully 

 preserved. The ball is shaped into the form of a truncated cone, with 

 its smallest portion below. It is next surrounded with light deal 

 boards, separated from each other by the distance of three-quarters of 

 an inch or so, like the staves of a barrel. These are next secured 

 temporarily by a suitable rope. A man then descends into the hole 

 and fixes the rope by means of the screw apparatus shown in fig. 258, 

 so as to press the planks firmly against the soil of the ball. The press 



Fig. 258. 



Screw used in preparing specimens for removal, as shown 

 in the preceding figure. 



is then removed and the same thing done higher up, within say four 

 inches of the top, an ordinary cask hoop being first nailed round the 

 planks before the screw is unfixed. The ball being firmly fixed in its 

 proper position, it is hove over so as to get to its underneath part. 

 The bottom of a cask, having its boards fastened together with a 

 circular piece of sheet-iron rather larger than itself, is passed under, 

 the iron being pierced with two or three holes and turned up so that it 

 may be nailed against the planks. In some cases the stem of the tree 

 should be fixed by iron wire to the sides of the improvised cask. 



" When it reaches its destination it is gently inclined to one side, 

 the bottom boards removed, and the roots carefully arranged in 

 their natural position, some good earth being spread over them. The 

 amount of success capable of being attained by tins method may be 

 seen throughout the squares of Paris, hardly a single tree having been 

 killed during the plantation of the myriads planted so successfully in 

 the squares and public gardens of that city." 



