644 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



Of Planting. 



The most proper seasons for planting in each year, are 

 spring and autumn. The roots of all plants that are taken 

 up should be preserved entire, and not thinned or lopped, 

 unless when diseased. As planting is usually performed in 

 rows, care should be taken that the direction of the rows be 

 north and south : the ground and the plants will then receive 

 the greatest portion of sunshine, and the plants will be more 

 thriving than any other position at similar distances could 

 render them. The modes of planting in ordinary use are the 

 following : 



1. Hole Planting. This mode of planting is generally 

 employed for trees or shrubs that have attained a good size. 

 It consists in digging holes sufficiently large to admit the 

 whole of their roots in their natural position, or in the same 

 position, and at the same depth, which they had previous to 

 their removal. The earth at the bottom of the hole should 

 be well loosened ; the roots should be covered with the finest 

 part of the soil, and none of the soil should be returned till 

 it has been broken up and pulverized. If the plants be of 

 the tender kind, the surface of the ground, after planting it, 

 should be covered with long dung or turfs, to prevent its 

 being injured by cold weather before it has properly taken 

 hold of the soil. 



2. Trench Planting. In digging a trench, for planting 

 Box edgings. Asparagus, nursery plants, &c. a line is gene- 

 rally used as a guide ; the depth and width of the trench 

 must be proportioned to the roots it has to admit, and that 

 side of the trench next the line is made perpendicular, or 

 nearly so ; the plants are set against the upright side, and the 

 earth being returned, the plants are fixed by treading it down. 



3. Trenching-in Planting. This method is adopted on 

 light soils, where the plants are to have considerable spaces 

 between them, and therefore a continued trench is not requi- 

 site. It is performed by two persons; a line being set up, 

 or a mark made as a guide, one -person turns out a sufficient 

 quantity of soil to admit one plant, which the other person 

 immediately puts into the hole, and the digger proceeding to 

 make another hole, throws the soil he takes up into the hole 

 last made. When the row is completed, the earth is trodden 

 down, as in the last mode of planting. 



4. Slit Planting. This is an expeditious mode of plant- 

 ing, and much used where large quantities of suckers and 

 nursery plants are to be planted. In performing it, one per- 

 son, having a lino set up or marked, forms a crevice in the 

 direction of the mark, he then draws his spade out, and forms 

 another, by crossing the former in the middle; a boy follow- 

 ing him, puts the sucker in at the crossing place, and finishes 

 the operation by pressing the earth together with his foot. 



5. Drill Planting. The drills or trenches are drawn by a 

 hoe, at the distance and depth the seed requires ; the seed 

 is dropped in, and generally covered by manual labour. 

 Bulbous roots, and large seeds, such as Walnuts and Beans, 

 are frequently planted in this manner. 



6. Bedding-in Planting. In this mode of planting, the 

 soil having been first prepared by digging and pulverizing it 

 thoroughly, it is formed into beds three or four feet wide, with 

 alleys between them. The earth is then raked off the surface 

 of each bed into the alleys, and the planting being performed, 

 it is again spread over the surface. The depth to which the 

 soil is drawn off, must be determined by what the seed or 

 roots to be planted require. Bulbous roots, and large seeds, 

 are frequently thus planted. 



7. Furrow Planting consists in the use of the plough and 



the harrow, and is only employed when large tracts of ground 

 are employed for one kind of produce. 



8. Dibbling. The principal difference between the dib- 

 bling of the gardener and that of the agriculturist, is, that 

 the former does not close the earth by the subsequent use ot 

 the harrow, but uses his dibble, or setting-stick, to press it 

 together, and fix the plants as he proceeds. Herbaceous, 

 shrubby, and fibrous-rooted plants, are very commonly set in 

 this manner, as well as a great number of seeds. 



9. Trowel Planting. This is easily and expeditiously per- 

 formed with a garden trowel, which serves both to take up 

 the plant, and to make the hole for its reception. A quan- 

 tity of earth is usually taken up along with the plant, and a 

 little water is used to render it less liable to droop. 



10. Planting with balls of earth about the roots. This 

 practice consists in the removal of a plant or tree with as 

 much as possible of the soil adhering to its roots. It is 

 employed for all tender plants, and for the most hardy when 

 they are transplanted at a season improper for the operation, 

 as in summer. 



11. Planting in pots. Garden pots should be very little 

 larger than what the plants require at the time they are put 

 into them, and should be changed as the plants increase in 

 size. They should have the hole at the bottom covered by a 

 potsherd, or oyster-shell, and when the plants are first set in 

 them, which is generally done with more or less earth about 

 them, the whole of the vacant space, while the plants are 

 held upright, should be filled up with fine mould, and a 

 watering immediately given. In removing a plant from a 

 small pot to a larger, the whole of the earth is generally 

 taken up entire, and placed in the large pot, upon a bed of 

 earth laid at the bottom of that pot, and which is enough to 

 raise the surface of the old mould very nearly to the level it 

 is to retain. The vacant space round the sides must then be 

 filled up with fine mould : the plant will by this means scarcely 

 receive the slightest interruption in its growth, and the fresh 

 earth will in a short time cause it to be more luxuriant. If a 

 plant appear to be diseased before it is transplanted, the 

 whole of the earth should be taken from its roots, which 

 should be examined, and any part found to be unsound should 

 be cut oiT; and as there has probably been some fault in the 

 earth, it will be proper to use none but fresh. The mould of 

 potted plants should be occasionally stirred up, to the depth 

 ot" an inch or two, and should be watered sufficiently often to 

 prevent its getting dry. 



Directions for the Flower Garden. 



Flowers are classed into annuals, biennials, and perennials. 

 The first, are those that are sown, and flower, and generally 

 die, within the year. The second, are those sown one year, 

 and which flower, and generally die, the next. The third, 

 are those that do not flower the year they are sown, but the 

 next, and continue to live years after, some fewer, some 

 more. 



Culture of Annuals. The middle of March is a good time 

 to sow the tender sorts ; of which the following are those 

 usually cultivated in gardens: Amaranths, Balsams, Cocks- 

 combs, Egg-plants, Humble Plant, Ice Plant, Martynia, Scar- 

 let Convolvulus, Sensitive Plant, Snake Melon, and Stramo- 

 niums. In order to succeed well, there should be provided 

 fine, dry, and rich earth, good stable-dung, frames and lights, 

 or hand-glasses, and mats to cover. A moderately-strong- 

 hot-bed, for a one-light frame, may be prepared, and, the 

 heat being somewhat abated, the seeds should be sown thinly 

 n drills, two or three inches asunder, on five or six inches of 





