jTarm^rs JHoiitlrlg l^isitux. 



~ CaNDUCTED BY ISAAC HILIi. 



THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD, WHOSE BREASTS HE HAS MADE HIS PECULIiB DEP051TE FOB SUBSTANTIAL AND GENUINE V 1 BTU E."— JffCrJim. 



'Those who labob in the earth are 



VOL. 9. NO. 3. 



THE FARMEU-S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



PUBLISHED BY 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED ON THE LAST DAY OF EVERT MONTH, 



At Athenian Building;. 



Oi^GcNEnAL ArtENTs.— H. A. Rill, Keene, N H. ; John 

 Marsh, Wi^iiiiplun St. Iloston, Ma-ss.; Charles Warben, 

 Biinlt'v Rou, Worcester. .Mass.; Thomas Chandleb, Bedford, 

 N. H. 



TER3IS.— To sinfilc subscribers, Fifty Cents. Ten per 

 cent, u-ill bo nllowed to tJie person who shall send more than 

 one siibscrilier. 'J'«'elve copies will be sent for the advance 

 payment of Five Dollars; twenly-Iive copies for Ten Dollar.^; 

 sixty C4ii»ies for Twenty Dollars. The payment in every case to 

 be rnaiie in advance. 



tf^^Jiloney and subscriptiojis^ by a regulation of the Post Master 

 Grni-raly may in all cases be remitted fry the Post Jilastcr, free oj 

 postage. 



90"^VJ! gentlemen who have heretofor« acted as Agents are 

 recviested to continue their Apency. Old subscribers who 

 conn- nndf T the new terms, will plfa:^c notify us of the names 

 alri'adi' on our books. 



CONCORD, N. H., MARCH 31, 1847. 



WHOLE NO. 99. 



Transplanting of Shade Trees. 



If the Ruin|)les of this work which we see 

 year hy year in this city are any indication of the 

 pciieral ideas on the auhject, it wouhl seem that 

 a more pal|)iilile darUness eouM hardly be con- 

 ceived to rest on llje first principles of any matter 

 of concern among men. There are annually set 

 in this city — and most of them in the spring of 

 the year — prohahly a thousand shade trees. Of 

 these perhaps one foiirlh part survive the first 

 year: and of the balance one iKiird survive the 

 second year, and afterwards a percentage drops 

 oft', till at the end of the fifth year it is doubtful 

 if more than one tenth of the whole number 

 planted will be found in anything like a state of 

 thrifty growth. Is this so in other western towns 

 and streets where shade trees are planted? — 

 Probably not in such a degree, from the fact that 

 our soil is poorer than will be found anywhere 

 else at the West; but to a certain extent, we are 

 persuaded, that there is"a very similar condition 

 of things. 



Let us examine, then, a liiile into the subject, 

 and see what is required ; and first 



The lime of Transplanting. On the whole, it 

 is ]irobably safe to reconmiend the spring. Few- 

 er persons will fail, in planting at that time, than 

 in the fall. Concerning the latter period, it is 

 only necessary to remark here, that the work 

 should be done early, iu order that the tree may 

 become established before the setting in of win- 

 ter. Trees set in the fall are more liable to be 

 lifted by frosts, especially on clay lands, and to 

 be blown about by winds; and when such is the 

 case, if any rootlets have started, they are broken 

 and the tree injiued. 



If the spring is selected, the earlier the work 

 is done after the frost is out of the earth, the bet- 

 ter; though it may be safely continued until the 

 leaves show themselves; and with some kinds of 

 • trees, after that, even. 



The Roots. — A tree, if it is to grow, mw.fi have 

 roots! a triiisju we should not think it necessary 

 to repeat, were it not that nudtitndes are sadly 

 ignorant or oblivious of the fact. Roots answer 

 two purposes in the economy of vegetation; one 

 is to hold the tree in its place, and the other to 

 supply it with food. The large prongs with' 

 which it is furnished answer the former purpose; 

 the small thread-like fibres the lattei'. The quan- 

 tity of roots which a tree will have differs consid- 

 erably in (lifTerent species; but with our ordinary 

 deciduous shade and forest trees, the quantity of 

 wood below grouDd will about enual that abov*-. 



And though no large root is found below the sur- 

 focc, corresponding to the trunk of the tree, this 

 is made up by the multitude of small runners, 

 which spread oil' in every direction, greatly be- 

 yond theextriitof the outmost branches. Those 

 ncquaii\ted with llie elm will perhaps recollect of 

 finding its roots at a distance of ten rods or dven 

 more, from the trimk of a large specimen. 



Trees are yearly offered by the load for sale in 

 this city, of which the (juanlity of roots does not 

 bear the ratio of one to a thousand, to the trunk 

 and branches. Trees, for instance, six inches in 

 diameter at the butt, and forty feet iu height, are 

 sold and set, whose whole quantum of root con- 

 sists of three or (bur large bare prongs, measuring 

 eighteen inches in length each — as cleani) shear- 

 ed of all fibrous or feeding roots as though such 

 a thing did not exist. Ilo4v are such to grow .' — 

 That how has not yet been invented ; as is soon 

 proved in every such case. To dig such a tree 

 requires some little expense of sweat and mus- 

 cle ; and as those who dig them do it for the sake 

 of selling, their zeal will not greatly outstrip the 

 requirements of the purchaser. When, how- 

 ever they find that such specimens do not sell, 

 but that roots as well as tops are required, they 

 will be carelul to bring roots. 



The lop and branches.— If every tree, on being 

 taken up for t4-ansplunting, were taken iqi entire 

 — that is, if every root and rootlet were secured, 

 without being ruptmed or wounded, the tree 

 might he set out entire, just as it was removed. 

 But this, when the tree is of any size, is never 

 the case. With the best care ordinarily given to 

 shade trees, say two or three inches in diameter, 

 in their retnoval, at least seven eighths of its feed- 

 ing roots are broken off. If then, the tree be 

 planted with its top untrimmed,that one eighth of 

 roots must feed the whole trunk and branches; 

 and this too, in a soil where its roots are stran- 

 gers — commonly much poorer and always differ- 

 ent from that where it grew before ; with the 

 earth aftbrding them nutriment not packed about 

 them as was the case before removal, but at some 

 distance, where they will be obliged to seek it. — 

 Ought not trees in such circumstances to die.' — 

 They certainly ought, imless the whole system of 

 Nature is a lie. And yet this is the way that 

 most trees in the circle of our observation are 

 set. 



As the taking up a tree of any size with all the 

 roots is an impossibility, it is necessary to cut off 

 a sufiicicncy of the top to correspond to the loss 

 of roots. If the tree has lost half its roots, cut 

 off half its top; if nine tenths of the roots are 

 gone, slash off the limbs entire, and one fourth 

 in length of the trunk. Do not be afraid in this 

 business — cut away fearlessly ! you will certainly 

 have a more comely tree before the end of the 

 first season. It is not merely necessary that a 

 tree should put out a few leaves, and "lire," as it 

 is called. It should commence growing from the 

 very start, and never cease to thrive. 



If the proportion ot top be too great, the few 

 roots are overtasked. The trunk and lindjs of a 

 tree require a certain amount of sap to keep them 

 alive ; and a greater amount is required to push 

 forth fresh limbs. But if all the sap which the 

 roots can finiiish is required to keep the breath 

 of life in the tree, there can be no growth of new 

 wood ; and if there is no growth of wood, or at 

 least a condition of perlect health in it, there will 

 be no growth of roots. The less, then, the amoimt 

 of top, with the more ease will the few and fee- 

 ble roots of a newly planted tree supply it with 

 sap enough to-sustain its growth. 



In transplanting maples, elms, locusts, and sim- 

 ilar trees, it is our custom to trim them out like 

 bean pole^- and though we have tiansplanted 

 huiulreds of them, we have never lost two per 

 cent, and have never failed to have beautiful trees. 

 A neighbor of ours, in planting so"me culls of lo- 

 /•I'eto '»ff oi.rin- which Were almost entirely 



without roots, trimmed them out In accordance 

 with these directions, although he had no faith in 

 it whatever ; and by midsummer every one of 

 them had a large and beautifid top; showing a 

 marked contrast to some others set out at the 

 same time, which had ample roots, but which 

 were iuadeipiately trinuned. 



In transplanting luarsery trees this severe trim- 

 ming is not necessary ; because they are small 

 when taken up, and the ratio of roots secured is 

 many times greater. 



.5oi7 and Selling.— The difficulties on account 

 of soil in our western country generally, are 

 comparatively few. It only needs a deep culti- 

 vation for a year or two, so as to be thoroughly 

 pulverized, and exposed to the air, and there is 

 no deficiency in fertility. 



If it is necessary to set trees in tlie sod, as is 

 sometimes the case, a good plan is to dig a hole, 

 some four feet square, and two feet deep— then 

 fill the bottom with sods, and set the tree at the 

 projier depth, covering the roots with the pulver- 

 ized soil, mixed half and half with some old 

 well-rotted manure. 



In our city the thing is not so easily managed. 

 Here there "is a thin, cold, sodden soil, of nine 

 inches or a foot in depth ; resting either on a 

 hard impervious clay, or on a fine packed bed of 

 sand ; as repellant to vegetation as the bottom of 

 Lake Michigan. 



We have been witness to the planting of a 

 great many trees here, and the mode is nearly 

 uniform, "it is to dig a square hole of the exact 

 size necessary to receive the roots — or if not 

 quite large enough any recreant root may be 

 stamped in with the loot— the hole about one 

 foot and a half deep. This carries it from six to 

 nine inches into the subsoil of clay or sand, as 

 the case may be. The tree, without and trim- 

 ming of top or root, is thrust in, and the earth 

 which was taken out is put back as it came, and 

 well stamped down; and the tree is forthwith 

 expected to do duty ! 



Now if a man should put a two-year-old calf 

 into a dry goods box, and nail down the lid — 

 having put notliing within for the calf to eat — 

 expecting to see him get fat, all the sane people 

 would consider the man treated with the tender- 

 est-fingercd charity if he only got called a fool. 

 But not a whit more absurd would his treatment 

 of the calf be, than his treatment of the tree. 



In none but the highest ground in this city 

 should a hole ever be dug for the setting of a tree. 

 The natural top of the ground is low enough, 

 and generally too low. If the tree be placed on 

 the surface o"f the ground, let the roots be hand- 

 somely covered with earth which has been ma- 

 nured elsewhere, and carted there for the pur 

 pose— or at any rate let it be finely worked soil, 

 mixed with rotten manure. If this is too much 

 trouble, the whole work had better be considered 

 as too much Iroublc. It should be remembered 

 too, that the ground where trees are set must be 

 drained ; standing water will be fatal to most of 

 them. 



Pro/cdi'on.— This is accomplished by setting up 

 posts and nailing on slats in such a manner that 

 whenever the wind sways its head the trunk is 

 brought across these slats and worn one fourth 

 through on each side. Any body who wishes to 

 examine the beauties of our mode of protection 

 has only to pass through our streets and note the 

 ghastly wounds that stare at him from every tree 

 he meets. 



Trees need no Protection, exce\il from cattle and 

 horses. Horses gnaw off the bark, and cattle 

 rub against them ; either is fatal. But a tree can 

 stand alone after it is once established, having 

 been created with especial reference to that ne- 

 cessity. 



Kinds of Trccs.—Owners of village lots, and 

 dwellers in towns, often commit a foolish error 

 in planting locust and forest trees within their 



