54 Transplanting without Disturbance of Soil. 



sand from escaping, and only the methods described in 202 or 

 203 could be employed. . 



201. For larger trees, an excavation may be made, leaving a mass 

 of earth, nearly cylindrical, but rather smaller below, still in place 

 and undisturbed around the roots, and this may be bound with 

 hoops, or with coarse cloths, so as to keep the soil in place until the 

 removal is finished. We notice, in 205 and 206, other methods 

 in speaking of the removal of large trees. 



202. For young seedlings of cinchonas and other trees difficult to 

 transplant, it is the custom in India to start the seeds in pieces of 

 bamboo filled with rich soil, and at first set as close together as they 

 can stand, for better management in sprouting. In this way they 

 maybe watered, shaded, and otherwise attended, as found necessary, 

 and until they have grown to a size that will enable them to stand 

 open exposure in the free air. They are then taken up, with the 

 bamboo shell still upon them, and set for permanence, the roots soon 

 finding their way through, as the shell decays. These shells are 

 three or four inches in diameter, and prove amply sufficient when 

 cut in lengths of five or six inches. The coffee-trees in Brazil are 

 started in earthern jars, so constructed that they can be carried to 

 the place of planting in the field, and the contents then transferred 

 entire to the ground where the trees are to grow. 



203. Slightly-made baskets of strong paper, reeds, bark, rushes, 

 or thick wood-shavings, would answer the same purpose, if made 

 of perishable material, sufficiently strong to last till the removal. 

 By this means, with careful packing and handling, seedling plants 

 can be transported safely to considerable distances. The expense 

 would, however, limit its application to experimental plantations in 

 the way of acclimatization, or to the propagation of trees for orna- 

 mental or special purposes. 



204. Seeds started in wooden boxes, large enough to hold a dozen 

 or tw r o of seedlings, may be kept together for watering and attend- 

 ance, occupying no more space than so many plants in a seed-bed, 

 and then may be carried to the place where the plants are to be set. 

 With proper care, they may be taken out with a curved trowel, and 

 set without disturbing the soil. Slight shaving or pasteboard parti- 

 tions, dividing the box into compartments, would facilitate the sep- 

 aration, and prevent the fibers from interlocking. This method is 

 employed in planting the eucalyptus trees in the unhealthy district 



