CH. IV 



NURSERIES 



141 



provided with a slit in front to admit of passing in the 

 stem of the seedling. The blade is then pressed down, 

 and the plant is lifted with a cylindrical ball of earth 

 attached to the roots. The diameter of the conical 

 blade and its length must vary with the size of the 

 transplants to be lifted and the length of the roots of 

 the transplants. A somewhat similar implement, which 

 was patented in Ceylon but the patent of which may 

 have expired by now (Fig. 41), has the advantage, when 



Fig. 40. 



the soil is friable, of preventing the balls of earth from 

 breaking up in transit. Here, instead of the conical 

 blade of the circular transplanter, there is a stout iron 

 ring (a), into which is fitted a cylinder made of tin (6). 

 This takes the place of the blade and cuts into the soil 

 round the seedling, which is then lifted. The plant 

 with the cylinder still enclosing the root-system is then 

 removed and set aside for transport, a new cylinder is 

 fitted into the ring for the next plant, and so on. The 

 cylinders are only removed from the balls of earth when 



