68 



surprising, that this ingenious nobleman should have stopped 

 here. By advancing a step further, and applying those 

 interesting doctrines to the art, he might have brought it 

 to a state of certainty and precision, to which Uttle could 

 have been added by the industry of his successors. It was 

 (to compare great things with small,) like the ill fortune of 

 the Romans, in missing the discovery of the art of printing 

 by moveable types, when, as their pottery indicates, they 

 may be said to have possessed that of stereotype. 



In this condition of the art of transplanting, it was still 

 necessarily confined, for want of science to direct and simplify 

 it, to the grounds of the powerful and opulent ; and sundry 

 devices were adopted by their gardeners, and other operators, 

 to render the practice more efficient, and to reduce the 

 expense within moderate limits. Although numerous oxen 

 and horses were still employed, to drag the ponderous load 

 of earth, on which their hopes of success mainly rested, yet 

 sundry cflbrts of ingenuity were exerted, for the preservation 

 of the roots ; and, as the subjects were large, even the 

 assistance of frost was called in, for that desirable object. — 

 Soon after the fall, and before hard weather set in, a trench 

 was opened of some extent, and at a sufficient distance from 

 the trees, so as to undermine the roots. Blocks and quarters 

 of W' ood weie next placed in the excavation, to keep up the 

 earth. The trench was then filled with water, which was 

 suffered to freeze ; and thus, an immense and weighty mass 

 of earth and roots, bound firmly together by congelation, was 

 conveyed with the trees to the situation intended. Here, 

 however, it was previously necessary to preserve the mould 

 from freezing also, by covering up the surface with fresh 

 litter, to some distance round the new pit. 



It deserves particular notice, that, in transporting these 

 unwieldy subjects, no other than their erect position was 

 contemplated by the inventors. By means of a vast wooden 

 crane, strongly braced with iron, both transversely and Ion- 



