PLANTATION, PLANTING. 



Rvowth ; tlie earth is then warm, and 

 the plants make roots very promiilly. 

 Some species of this intorestinjr or- 

 der of trees require to be planted ei- 

 ther before winter, so as to have suf- 

 ficient time to strike root, or imme- 

 diately before their buds begin to 

 burst in the spring. These species 

 of trees are injuriously affected by 

 exposure to dry, cold winds, even 

 when their roots are undisturbed by 

 removal ; but if planted at a season 

 when several months must elapse 

 before any perfect action can com- 

 mence, the tops are apt to become 

 dried up in the interval. It appears 

 that if their juices become inspissa- 

 ted to a certain extent, they never 

 again become liquefied, probably ow- 

 ing to their resinous nature. 



"The watering of newly-planted 

 trees ought to be attended to. The 

 supply, in the first instance, should 

 be copious, in order to wash the earth 

 into the cavities among the roots. 

 Some err in keeping the roots of 

 newly-planted trees constantly soak- 

 ed with water, as if they were those 

 of bog plants, for which only such 

 treatment is proper. In watering, 

 consideration should always be had 

 to the nature of the plant ; to which, 

 if it delight in dry soils, no more wa- 

 ter should be artificially applied than 

 is necessary to moisten it as much 

 as the soil in wliich the species grows 

 naturally, and at a time when shoots 

 and leaves are abundantly produced. 

 When watering is performed, it 

 should be done thoroughly, so as to 

 reach the lowest portions of the root. 

 In the case of plants being much dri- 

 ed from long carriage or other caus- 

 es, the supply, on first planting, should 

 be very moderate. The tops, how- 

 ever, should be frequently syringed, 

 in order to moisten the bark, and pre- 

 vent its absorbing the organizable 

 matter which descends towards the 

 root by the inner bark. The flow 

 must be extremely weak under such 

 circumstances ; but if it can he pre- 

 served from the effects of drought 

 till it reach the extremities of the 

 roots, the formation of fresh spongi- 

 oles will immediately commence, and 



the tree may then be pronounced out 



of danger. 



"The manner of performing the 

 operation of planting may be reduced 

 to one general principle, that of pla- 

 cing the roots in the soil so as to im- 

 itate as closely as possible the posi- 

 tion which they occupy when grow- 

 ing wild and uncontrolled. Plants, 

 indeed, may be instanced whose 

 roots have been observed, in one 

 situation, i)enetrating to the depth of 

 four or five feet ; or, in another, 

 creeping along the surface, among 

 stones, or into the crevices of rocks, 

 with scarcely soil to cover them, as, 

 for example, in the vine. But al- 

 though roots can usually accommo- 

 date themselves to that position 

 which the nature of the situation 

 renders it alone possible for them to 

 occupy, yet there can be no doubt 

 that in all cases the extremities of 

 the roots should be lower than where 

 they diverge from the stem : a rule 

 which, however self-evident it may 

 be, is frequently violated in practice, 

 by making a basin-shaped hole, deep- 

 est in the middle, in which the roots 

 are either doubled, or have their ex- 

 tremities tending upward on the slo- 

 ping sides of the cavity. 



" The excavation for the reception 

 of the roots of a plant should be con- 

 siderably larger than those roots will 

 traverse when extended at the time 

 of planting. It should be as wide at 

 bottom as at top. The bottom should 

 be more or less convex, and the depth 

 such as to admit of the roots being 

 covered to the extent observed in 

 undisturbed seedling plants of the 

 same species ; that is to say, the up- 

 per part of the root should only be 

 just covered. The lower roots should 

 be regularly disposed over the con- 

 vex bottom of the excavation, and 

 carefully strewed with some of the 

 finer portion of soil, over which the 

 other roots may be spread. More soil 

 should then be carefully rather than 

 forcibly introduced. There should 

 be no vacant spaces left, except those 

 of so minute a description that they 

 will be readily filled up by the finer 

 particles of earth wasiied down by a 



583 



