28 



CHAPTEE V. 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



ONE curious circumstance connected with transplant- 

 ing hardwood trees came under my observation about 

 thirty years ago. A farmer having occasion to fix 

 two gate-posts at an entrance to one of his fields, 

 thought proper to use two sycamore-trees for the pur- 

 pose. Experience having taught him that the heavier 

 the posts were at the base the firmer would they re- 

 main in the ground, the trees, instead of being cut 

 down in the usual way, were grubbed round the base, 

 cutting nearly close to the trunk all the principal 

 roots. They were thus lifted with a club base, but 

 without any small roots or fibres ; and after being 

 felled, were cross-cut at about 7 feet from the ground, 

 thus leaving that part intended for the gate-posts 

 entirely void of branches, and almost equally so of 

 roots. Holes having been prepared, the posts were 

 put into the ground, in the form of planting. The 

 ground was firmly beaten around them, and the gate 

 hung between them in the usual way. The work 

 was performed about the month of March, and by 

 midsummer the posts began to produce shoots near 

 the top. Next season the shoots were prolonged, and 

 the growth has uniformly continued to the present day. 



