TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 37 



July is a much preferable time of the year for doing 

 the work. 



Notwithstanding the amount of labour and expense 

 attending the transplantation of advanced trees, it is 

 doubtless the best way of raising them, especially 

 hedgerow trees for beautifying the landscape or afford- 

 ing shelter to stock, and will be found to bear a fa- 

 vourable comparison, in point of expense, with that 

 of growing them from small plants or any other way. 

 The losses that attend the transplantation of large 

 trees very little, if at all, exceeds that of planting, or 

 rather growing, small ones. 



The writer is so fully persuaded of the advantages, 

 pecuniary and otherwise, arising from transplanting 

 trees from 15 to 20 feet over that of beginning with 

 small ones, that in thinning hardwood plantations he 

 seldom cuts down trees that are suitable for trans- 

 planting. Upon all such trees he puts a special mark, 

 known to the woodmen, who leave them at the time 

 of thinning ; and afterwards, when convenient, they are 

 dug round, top-pruned, and are thus ready when re- 

 quired for transplanting, and for which there is always 

 ample room on a large estate. 



The practice of deep planting is one of the most 

 hurtful that can be adopted, and is always, sooner or 

 later, followed by baneful effects. 



Considerable difficulty is often experienced in water- 

 ing trees to induce the water to penetrate the surface, 

 which becomes caked and hardened after repeated 

 waterings. To facilitate the absorption of the water, 

 it is often advisable to perforate the surface of the 

 ground with a sharp instrument or f ootpick. As 

 this practice, however, is often attended with results 

 injurious to the roots, by cutting and bruising them, 



