LIFTING PLANTS. 



183 



9. Lifting Plants. 



Plants must be lifted in the nursery with the least 

 possible damage, especially to the root system, and least of 

 all to the fine rootlets through which the nourishing sub- 

 stances are assimilated. These fine rootlets are generally 

 imbedded in small lumps of 

 earth, which should not be 

 shaken off. In the case of 

 yearlings the rootlets are found 

 on the taproot or its branches ; 

 on older plants they are princi- 

 pally found on the side roots. 



The least interference with 

 the roots occurs, if the plants 

 are lifted with a ball of earth, 

 in which the root system is 

 imbedded ; this method is spe- 

 cially recommended for very 

 young or tender plants. In the 

 case of older plants lifting with 

 balls and transport become very 

 expensive, so that, whenever 

 admissible, they are lifted with- 

 out balls of earth. 



CL Lifting Plant with Balls of 



Earth. Fig. 45. 



The operation is performed 

 with a variety of instruments, such as the circular spade, 

 the hoe, the conic spade and the ordinary spade, according 

 to the size of the desired ball. 



Young plants, up to a foot in height, may be lifted with the 

 circular spade (Fig. 46), provided the species does not develop 

 a long taproot at an early age. This instrument, which was 

 invented by Carl Heyer about 70 years ago, consists of an iron 



