THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



675 



state of" weather lasts for a vvpeU or two, there is 

 no doubt that the plant will succeed very vve I ; 

 and so it will if removed at niidsunimer. In ihe 

 vear 1S''>2 in the month oC Aumisi, there, were 

 nianled in the Harden of the Horticultural Soeiely 

 or London above 6000 hollies, lioni two to liiree 

 (eet hi.'h, for the purpose o^" tbrming fences : lew 

 nlanisTn all that number ever exhibited any traces 

 olhavinjr been removed, and I do not believe ihai 

 a hundred died. The weather waa dry ; but the 

 plants were deluged with wt.tcr when placed in 

 Iheir holes, and they had been obta.ned rom the 

 KecTcni's ParU, where they grew in the sliH plas- 

 tic clay of that side of London ; the consequence 

 of which was, that, when taken out o{ the around, 

 somuchearthadhere.no ihem, ihat they were 

 almost in the state of plan-s removed Irom pots. 

 Now, is this a case to justily planiinir hollies in 

 the month of Au-ust 1 Surely not ; ..only shows 

 that it may be done under a combination ot very 

 propitious^.ircumstBnces. There may be local 

 condiiionsof a permanent nature owing to Uie 

 peculiarity of climate, in which those advaniages 

 may be calculated upon ; but they do not .pisiily 

 the c'ardener in taking a season 01 great risk m- 

 stead of a season of perlect certainly. I have 

 «een tens of thousands of hollies planted late m 

 nie inn- in the county of Norfolk, and in the 

 quarlers.loo, of nurseries, where, from the p ants 

 shadins each other, they are lar more likely to 

 succeed than if exposed singly ; and al hough it 

 somelimee happened that a good many lived, it is 

 nouoo muchlosay that three-filths at leas, would 

 die ■ and it is perfect I v well known thai il planted 

 in the be<Tinningof November no such loss is 

 euslained? In short, I am ceriain thai il experi- 

 ence is looked to only, i. will give the same an- 

 swer as theory to the question ol what season's 

 the best for planting evergreen.^ namely, ttial 

 M-hich is best lor other trees ; and such cases to 

 the contrary as may appear to exi.i will always be 

 found exceptions to the rute, in consequence o 

 some peculiar circumstances attending them ; not 

 unfrequently, i believe, from the operation hav- 

 incr been perlbrmed upon a very small number ol 

 nlanto, to the removal of which a degree o care 

 was given wholly incompatible wi;h general and 

 extensive f)rac;ice.* 



* [These remaks must be received with great modi- 

 fication, especiaHy in the northern and eastern 

 states The moist or riiny winters ot England are 

 the exact opposite of our cold and dry ones, during 

 which, for two months at least, the soil is severely 

 frozen, and vegetation is nearly or quite dormant. Our 

 whole experience goes to prove that the practice ot 

 transplanting evergreens in autumn is, for this country, 

 extremely injudicious, as the damage which the trees 

 susfain in their removal greatly increases their suscep- 

 tibility to injury by the cold of winter. The early 

 spring is the most favorable period for the purpose; 

 since the abundant and long-continued rains which 

 occur from the vernal equinox to the middle of April 

 enable the plant to recovpr itself, and emit new roots 

 with rapidity. We have been very' successful in May, 

 but then so much depends upon the occurrence of rainy 

 weather, that the risk is greatly increased. Next 

 to the selection of the propertinip, the preservation of 

 the roots in a moist condition is the most essential 

 point, in removing all evergreen trees. These remarks 

 are not applicable to a different mode of transplanting 

 large evergreen and olher trees, which is very suc- 

 cessfully practised hi Has country; that ot rcmov- 



Mr. JNlacnab rightly adverts lo the importance 

 of choosing a suiiable day, as well as season, for 

 the operaiion ; ai;d it must be evident from what 

 has now been stated, that this is very necessary ; 

 as, however, the theory of this is the same aa 

 that of the season, it will be sufficient lo quote 

 this excellenl practical gardener's rules. In win- 

 ter, you may plant wiili perfect safely in a dull 

 calm day, whereas in spring or autumn a moist 

 rainy day is preferable to any other ; but where 

 a (lerson has not the choice of such weather, thea 

 ihe work should be performed in the evening, 

 when the sun gels low, especially in spring or 

 Hummn planting. 



Next in importance lo ihe selection of a fitting 

 season, is the preservation of the roots of trans- 

 planted trees ; the Ibrmer is of little consequence, 

 if the latter is not more carefully attended to. 

 We know, indeed, llial some plants will live with 

 ihe rudeai treatment, and bear the most severe 

 mutilation without much suffering ; but those are 

 special instances of extreme tenacity of lilij, and 

 do not ali'ect general principles. The value of 

 great attention to the roots, in the operation of 

 shilling, has already b^en pointed out, and trans- 

 planting is only shifting in another manner. It 

 would be ilie duty of the gardener to save ever/ 

 minute fibre of the roots, if it were practicable ; 

 but., as thai is not the case, his care must be con- 

 fined to lifiing his trees with the least possible de- 

 struction of those importatnt organs ; rememBer- 

 ing always that it is not by the coarse old woody 

 roots that ihe absorption of food is carried on, but 

 by th.e younger parts, and especially ihe spongioles. 

 The mechanical means by which this is best eHect- 

 cd do not belong to the present subject; I may, 

 however, remark, without quilting the limits of 

 theory, that, as the greater part of the young 

 fibres is produced at the circumference of the circle 

 formed by the root, the earth should be first re- 

 moved at some distance liom ihe stem, so as to in- 

 sure, as far as possible, their being taken up entire; 

 if this is not done, but the spade is struck into the 

 earth near the stem, or if ihe rude nursery prac- 

 tice, justly enough called drawing, is employed, a 

 large pari of the most valuable roots must neces- 

 sarily be cut ofl' or destroyed by tearing. The 

 greatest difllculiy, beyond that of mechanical 

 removal, in traris()lanting trees of considerable 

 Size, i«3 this preservation of roots ; and, if it were 

 possible to carry without injury such heavy mass- 

 es as old Ibresl trees, there is no physical obstacle 

 lo transplanting them, if the extiicalion of the 

 fibrous part of the roots be secured, which is not 



ing them with large frozen balls of earth in midwinter. 

 The Irof 3 to be removed are selected, and the holes 

 prepared for th^ir reception in autumn, while the 

 ground is yet open. When the grcJund is slightly 

 frozen, the operator proceeds to dig a trench around the 

 tree, at some distance irom its trunk, gradually un- 

 dermining it, and leaving the principal mass of roots 

 embodied in the ball of earth which is left to freeze 

 pretty thoroughly. At a favorable time during the 

 winter, the tree with the ball of frozen earth is rolled 

 upon a sled drawn by oxen, by which it is readily 

 transferred to the hole previously prepared for its re- 

 ception, and placed in the proper position ; and as soon 

 as the weather becomes milder, the earth is properly 

 filled in around the ball. In this way, a tree twenty- 

 five feet high may be transplanted, so as scarcely to 

 exhibit, during tlie ensuing season, any ill effects from 

 the change ol location. A. J. ] 



