OF ORNAMENTAL TREES. 37 



ball" just ready for removal. When the ball 

 is frozen through, it is taken off to the spot 

 prepared for it, suffered to thaw, and then 

 the hole filled up. I do not approve of this 

 system, having seen it fail on a very exten- 

 sive scale. The frost and atmosphere to- 

 gether, seem to act injuriously on the cut 

 and exposed roots ; besides, as I have al- 

 ready observed (par. 10), no amount of 

 " ball" can compensate for a want of fibres. 



25. Though I lay down the rule that au- 

 tumn planting is preferable under most cir- 

 cumstances, it can be carried out in any sea- 

 son of the year. I have planted in every 

 month for experiment sake. The worst pe- 

 riod is just after the tree has burst forth its 

 leaves in spring. Success is more probable 

 every succeeding month till the fall, when 

 the most favorable period for the process has 

 arrived. There is a regular ebb and flow, 

 like the tides and the seasons, in the rise and 

 fall of the sap. 



26. I will give one illustration to accom- 

 pany the last paragraph. In one of my 

 situations, a fine apricot-tree had to be trans- 

 planted or destroyed, in the month of June, 



4 



