APPENDIX. 703 



from the fibre that has been well ripened, than from that lifted before ripened. It 

 can only be when the distance of removal is very short, and the plants very small, 

 and lifted with the earth adhering to the roots, that the transplanting of deciduous 

 ^plants in autumn, before ripe, can be attended with any advantage. In the 

 nurseries, we have great experience of lifting and shoughing immense quantities of 

 deciduous plants, and experience must say on this head, that any process of growth 

 which may be going on in the interior of the plant during whiter has very little if any 

 outward appearance. 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. 

 Such as gooseberries, cherries, thorns, birch, larch, &c., may begin 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. Quarters of young trees planted in autumn will 

 stand all winter without the appearance of failure ; and yet, when the spring 

 drought sets in, will fail nearly as much as spring-planted ones, showing that very 

 little has been done by the plant towards establishing itself in the ground during 

 winter. (Autumn is considered decidedly best in the climate of London.) 



717, in p. 321. According to a table made out by Mr. Robert Thompson, and 

 published in Lindley's Theory of Horticulture, the atmospheric moisture for the 

 different months of the year 1831, is as under: 



N. 



724 in p. 325. In order to make sure that the lowest extremity, or root, of the 

 plant should be most pressed, as you very judiciously request, (technically, it is 

 called in the nurseries fastened,) it is necessary that the point of the dibber should 

 be so introduced into the ground, as that it will be nearer the plant at the root than 

 at the surface, the line of its direction inclining at a slight angle towards the plant. 

 When the line of direction of the dibber points from the plant, they are fastened 

 only at the surface, and the roots are not at all fixed in the soil. This is a very 

 material matter to attend to, where much dibbing is practised. It is easier for the 

 operators to push the dibber from the plant, and they require to be watched. The 



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