©I)c JTarmcv's iHontl)lij btsitor. 



51 



they may be said to he predisposed to rot, as a 

 child is to sin. If the seed is cut and the raw 

 surface exposed to the juices of the manure, its 

 inoculation would seem to follow as a natural 

 consequence. Why might not dung juice act 

 upon the potato, as vaccine matter acts upon the 



huii 



Kin system i 



Sixth. — If in spite of all precautions, the tops 

 should he blighted, cut them oil' immediately 

 close to the ground — the closer the better. This 

 will prevent the diseased sap of the stalk from 

 descending into the tuber. 



Seventh. — The potatoes when dug, should be 

 carefully sorted and thoroughly dried; and then 

 placed in small bins in the cellar and kept as 

 free as possible from the light and air. 



Respectfully, in behalf of the Committee, 

 J. G. IIOYT. 



Exeter, N. H., January 23, 1349. 



At a meeting of the Rockingham Farmers' 

 Club, held at Exeter, on the HSlh day of March, 

 1840, 



Voted, That the Committee on Fruit and Orna- 

 mental Trees he instructed to prepare u report 

 on Transplanting Forest Trees. 



At a meeting of the Club holden on the 4th 

 of April, 184!», 



J'utcd, That the report of the Committee on 

 Fruit ami Ornamental Trees be accepted, and 

 that the Secretary cause two hundred copies of 

 the same to be printed. 



S. B. SWETT, Secretary. 



REPORT. 



Why are not the streets of all our villages 

 shaded and adorned with trees? Why are so 

 many of our dwellings still unprotected from 

 the burning heat of summer, and the " peltings 

 of the pitiless storms" of winter? Is it because 

 in New England hearts, hurried and pressed as 

 they are by care anil business, there is no just 

 appreciation of the importance of the subject? 

 Or is it that failure in the attempt which almost 

 every man has made, once in his life, in this way 

 to ornament his home, has led many to the be- 

 lief that there is some mystery passing the com- 

 prehension of common men, about this matter 

 of transplanting trees? The answer may be 

 found, partly in each of the reasons suggested. 

 Ask your neighbor why he has not more trees 

 about his house, and lie will tell you that they 

 are of no great use, and besides, that it is very 

 difficult to make them grow, that he has tried it 

 once or twice and they all died. Now these, the 

 common reasons, are both ill founded. It is of 

 use for every man to surround himself with ob- 

 jects of interest, to cultivate a taste for the beau- 

 tiful in all things, and especially in the works ol 

 nature. — It is of use for every family to have a 

 home, a pleasant happy home, hallowed by puri- 

 fying influences — it is of use, that every child 

 should he educated not only in sciences and arts 

 and dead languages, but that his affections, antl 

 his tagte should be developed and refined — that 

 the hook of nature should be laid open to him, 

 and that he should learn to read her language in 

 the flower and the leaf, written every where, in 

 the valley and on the hill side — antl hear it in 

 the songs of birds, and the murmuring of the 

 forest. If you would keep pure the heart of 

 your child and make his youth innocent and 

 happy, surround him with objects of interest 

 and beauty at home. If you would prevent a 

 restless spirit — if you would save him from that 

 lowest species of idolatry "the love of money," 

 and teach him to " love what is lovely," adorn 

 your duellings, your places of worship, your 

 school houses, your street* anil public squares, 

 with trees and hedges, and law us, and flowers, 

 so that his heart may early ami ever be impress- 

 ed with the love of Mini who made them all. 



As to the failure of success in planting trees, 

 we have something to say. — So long as it is true 

 that by far the greater part id' the trees set by 

 the streets in our village parish in the first two 

 years — while of those properly set and protected 

 not one in ten is lost, it must be evident that ac- 

 curate knowledge on the subject is still wanting, 

 and in the hope of aiding to supply that want, 

 we propose to suggest, in a practical form, our 

 views upon the subject. And first as to 



THE KIND OK THICKS. 



Above all others, for the street, the Elm is to 



be preferred; For beauty, gracefulness, grandeur 

 even, it has no equal in New Fnglaud. Besides, 

 it is hardy, long-lived, easily procured, and free 

 from the attacks of insects and disease. The 

 rock-maple comes next — a beautiful and stately 

 tree, though somewhat precise and rigid in its 

 outline, anil of much slower growth than the 

 elm. It is hardy, bears transplanting well, af- 

 fords an impenetrable shade, and alternating in 

 rows with the elm, by the wayside, or mingled 

 in groups where there is room for them, it af- 

 fords a beautiful and desirable variety. Neither 

 the red-maple nor the white-maple can be com- 

 pared with the rock-maple. They are smaller, 

 shoiter lived, less hardy, and altogether inferior 

 to it in grace and beauty, and are recommended 

 only where there is room for variety. 



The white-ash is a tree which seems not to 

 be appreciated, and is one of our i'men trees, and 

 lor size, durability anil beauty, entitled to the 

 third place in our list. 



Then we have the bass, or American linden, 

 not surpassed by any tree in the richness and 

 beauty of its foliage — a tree not sufficiently 

 hardy perhaps fur the street, but, " beautiful ex- 

 ceedingly " in a lawn or private grounds. 



The beech is a tree deserving its classic fame, 

 but too full of local attachments and home feel- 

 ings to survive removal without great care, anil 

 the walnut is liable to the same objection. 



Where space allows, as in public squares and 

 lawns, avoid rows and squares and circles, and 

 mathematics in general, in tree planting — avoid 

 sameness in kind and size and shape, and en- 

 deavor to imitate the cunning hand of nature in 

 tasteful inequality of grouping. 



TIME FOR TRANSPLANTING. 



All deciduous forest trees may be removed at 

 any time after the fall of the leaf in autumn, and 

 before the bursting of the buds in spring. If re- 

 moved in the bright warm days of spring, their 

 roots should be carefully shaded from the sun, 

 and in fall and winter they must not be exposed 

 naked to severe cold. 



PREPARATION FOR SETTING. 



For your trees upon the streets, dig the holes 

 six feet in diameter and eighteen inches deep 

 before the trees are procured ; — re-place the subsoil 

 with eood soil and procure enough more and de- 

 posit "near, to fill up level with the earth, so as 

 not to use the sand or gravel from the bottom, 

 and have ready two pieces of joist or plank four 

 inches wide, with proper strips of board for pro- 

 tection of the trees. Do all this at your leisure, 

 before the trees are dug. It is the largest half 

 of the whole operation, and should never be left 

 to the hour when returning late, weary and 

 heavy laden from your labor of procuring them, 

 you will have neither time nor strength to per- 

 form it carefully and speedily, and when your 

 poor trees, like so many fish out of water, are 

 panting and suffering for a return to their native 

 element. 



SELECTION OF TREES AND DIGGING DP. 



Procure trees from open land rather than from 

 thick woods, if possible, and those of thick and 

 low growth, rather than tall and slender trees, 

 and be sure they are young and growing. It is 

 generally advised to take them from land similar 

 to that where they are to he set, but this is not 

 essential. Elms from swamps and bogs, trans- 

 planted on dry lands and pine plains, are now 

 growing all about us in Exeter. It is of more 

 importance to take them from such soil as will 

 allow their removal with least injury to the roots, 

 and therefore not from land tilled with stones or 

 large roots. 



Some writers insist that the trees be marked 

 before removal, that they may be set in the same 

 position as to the points of compass as before — 

 and the theory is reasonable, though the practice 

 however it may promote their growth and com- 

 fort, is not essential to their life. They soon 

 "get the hang" of their new position, if the 

 theory is disregarded, u hile Sam Weller's reason 

 lor a father's whipping his boy "it can't do any 

 hurt it' it don't do any good," may he given in 

 support of the practice, 



Having selected a tree of about three inches 

 in diameter, with a sharp spade, an axe and a 

 bog hoc, dig a trench about two and a half feet 

 I'r.'un it, completely round it, deep enough to cut 

 off every root ; then dig under it till it is loosen- 



ed, using no crow-bar or lever to gall and split 

 the roots, carefully preserving all the small roots 

 and fibres. Load the trees when dug upon a 

 long wagon, putting pine houghs under them to 

 prevent rubbing, and cover the roots from the 

 sun. About a dozen such will make a load for 

 one horse, and three or four smart men can dig 

 and get them home in half a day. 



TRIMMING AND SETTING OUT. 



With a liiu: saw, and a knife, cut off smoothly 

 all the broken roots. .Wit cut aicinj one-half at 

 least cfthc lop, either by shortening the limbs, or 

 cutting part of them away entirely, as the shape of 

 the tree may require. We are aware that this is 

 disputed territory, and take the responsibility of 

 holding it. We suppose that the sap is supplied 

 through the roots, that ill hot dry weather, evap- 

 oration goes on rapidly from the leaves — that if 

 that evaporation exceeds the supply of sap, the 

 leaves wither and the tree dies. 



Hut there are other reasons for lessening the 

 top. The tree has grown in a sheltered position, 

 protected from the rude "winds ol Heaven" — 

 perchance in society, resting its long arms on 

 the shoulders of its friends and kindred — sup- 

 ported in the loving embrace of its companions. 

 It has had no discipline or preparation for the 

 cold and lonely and trying exposure of a public 

 position. But now you have cut away its old 

 supporters — literally root and branch. With its 

 full top exposed to the tempest, the small newly 

 formed roots which should attach it to its new 

 position are constantly broken off, and it cannot 

 live. This is the cause of the failure of many 

 attempts at transplanting. Plant the tree no 

 deeper than it grew before. Nature who has at- 

 tended to growing trees some six thousand years, 

 understands well how they should be set, .and 

 cannot be improved upon. Drive, your stakes 

 before the roots are covered, that you may not 

 injure them. Then having carefully placed the 

 roots in their natural position, fill up with finely 

 pulverized soil and see that no space is left be- 

 neath them. When the roots are fully covered, 

 place about half a bundle of straw or as much 

 hay over the whole surface of the hole and cov- 

 er it with soil, leaving in spring a little hollow 

 about the tree. If you plant in the fall, make a 

 little heap of earth about the tree, to turn of!" the 

 water, and remove it the next spring. The straw 

 will prevent the evaporation of the moisture 

 about the roots, and keep the soil around the 

 tree light for several years; it tends to prevent 

 the growth of weeds and grass, and admits the 

 free passage of rain, or water artificially applied. 

 Do not omit this precaution ; it is almost essen- 

 tial, on sandy laud. 



CARE AFTER PLANTING. 



If yon plant trees in a public street, do not 

 consider the work complete, until they are pro- 

 tected from animals, as well as from motion 

 by winds, by securing them with stakes, as be- 

 fore suggested. A strip of board on each of" two 

 sides of the tree, or a strip of leather put round 

 it and attached by a wire to each stake, will pro- 

 tect it sufficiently against the racking of the 

 winds, and against roving cattle, which delight 

 to find a new tree to rub against. But we may 

 still utter the prayer "save lis from our friends," 

 for many of them seem to think that trees are 

 principally useful as a means of securing horses. 

 Trees then, near your dwellings should be boxed 

 lis about seven feet high, if you do not intend to 

 lose both your friend and your tree. He will tie 

 bis horse to your tree, and the horse, of course, 

 will amuse himself with gnawing the bark. You 

 will be exceedingly vexed, and possibly rude, 

 anil will be consoled by the assurance that he 

 never knew his horse to do so before, and you 

 will part, your friend grieved at the accident, 



and you wishing him and his horse at the 



end of their journey! 



If a drought comes in midsummer, such as 

 those forgetful people I lie oldest inhabitants do not 

 recollect to have seen, and such seasons are no- 

 thing unusual, — if then, once a week, you give 

 the trees a copious watering, it will be an act of 

 generosity, which they will not forget; hut if 

 planted, 'according to the foregoing directions, in 

 ordinary situations, nineteen of every twenty of 

 them will live with only the water from the 

 clouds to moisten them. We believe it to be not 

 only unnecessary, but a positive injury to trees, 

 to water them daily. 



