NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL BE STOCKING. 223 



it is necessary to cut off a portion of the tap-root in 

 the case of species in which it is long. The object 

 in view is to provoke the development of lateral 

 roots which present themselves on a swelling round 

 the section. These lateral roots being nearer the 

 surface, are easy of extraction and require smaller 

 holes when put out. Certain species, such as oak and 

 even the beech, develop a strong tap-root from the 

 first year, which it is impossible to pull up without 

 breaking. Moreover, the preservation of the tap-root 

 would require too deep a hole at the moment of trans- 

 planting. Besides this, the tap-root remains for some 

 time the sole root of the seedling, or presents only few 

 and insufficient rootlets. This is a circumstance un- 

 favourable to the success of the transplants. It is 

 remedied, when the seedlings are not removed into 

 nursery lines, by cutting off the tap-root in situ 

 underground. For this purpose a spade is employed 

 the bade of which is flat and about twenty inches 

 long, terminates in an oblique edge, and makes a 

 certain angle with the handle. The instrument 

 ought to be strong, sharp, and of good steel. The 

 seedlings having been sown in narrow trenches, 

 the spade is pushed into the ground on either 

 side of each trench, so as to cut off a portion of the 

 roots of every plant. The notches made by the 

 implement are pressed down with the foot. This 

 operation is generally performed in the autumn of 

 the first year, and from the very commencement 

 of spring, numerous lateral roots, are observed to 

 develop all round the section. Unfortunately this 

 implement cannot be used in all soils ; thus stones 



