320 ON THE CULTIVATION OF TREES. 



vase of ice, and may be taken up with the clod of earth 

 attached to it ; and, contained in the icy vase, it may 

 then be conveyed to the place of its destination, almost 

 without being sensible of its change of situation. This 

 is, however, a very expensive operation, as it requires a 

 considerable mechanical force to accomplish it : it can be 

 done, also, only where the frost is severe and of long du- 

 ration ; for if the vase be melted or broken before the tree 

 is placed in its new situation, the whole fails. 



Sir Henry Stewart of Allanton has, within a few years, 

 introduced a mode of transplanting large trees, which ap- 

 pears to have been attended with great success. It is 

 precisely the reverse of that I have mentioned, yet found- 

 ed on the same principle of guarding the roots from inju- 

 ry : with this view, instead of carefully covering up the 

 roots, he lays them bare, but he separates the earth from 

 them with such extreme precaution, that not even the 

 smallest fibres are injured : this is done by laborers, whom 

 he calls pickmen ; because their business is to clear the 

 roots from the earth by means of a small instrument adapt- 

 ed to the purpose, or with their fingers ; a ball of earth is 

 left close to the stem with the sward upon it. An engine 

 is then brought up to the tree, consisting of a strong pole 

 mounted upon two high wheels ; the pole is strongly se- 

 cured to the tree, while both are in a verticle position, 

 they are then brought down to a horizontal one, by the 

 pole acting as a lever ; and by its descent, the few central 

 roots, which the pickmen could not reach, are rent from 

 the ground. The tree is so laid on the machine as to bal- 

 ance the roots against the branches, and one or two men 

 are placed aloft among the branches of the tree, where 

 they shift their places like movable ballast, as occasion 

 may require. Both roots and branches are carefully tied 

 up The pit for receiving the tree, which should be pre- 

 pared a twelvemonth before, is now opened, and the tree 

 set in the earth as shallow as possible. The roots are then 

 loosened from their bandages, and divided into the tiers, 

 or ranks, in which they grow from the stem ; the lowest 

 of these tiers is then arranged, as nearly as possible, in 

 the manner in which it lay originally, each root with its 

 rootlets and fibres being imbedded in the soil with the 



1728. How should it be done'? 1729. What objection is there to 

 this mode of transplanting 1 ? 1730. What mode of doing it has been 

 adopted by Sir Henry Stewart 1 ? 



