SEEDLINGS AND TRANSPLANTING 



not yourself grown them from seed. It is not wise to 

 set out sun-wearied plantlets that have been taken up 

 from their beds and allowed to stand for hours without 

 proper care and protection. Seedlings once removed 

 are tender things until they find themselves at home in 

 their new environment, and make a fresh start by 

 taking hold upon the soil that has adopted them. 



Short and stocky plants transplant always with 

 better results than those of tall, thin and " spindling " 

 growth, and this sturdiness should always be the guide 

 in making a selection from commercial stock. Where 

 seedlings are being raised by the beginner, let him bear 

 in mind that a plant which is frequently transplanted 

 endures the operation with much more grace than one 

 which is left long in one place. Frequent transplanting 

 tends to the development of a more compact root 

 system which will be made up of many fine and hair- 

 like short feeding roots instead of the long, tenacious 

 growth which the undisturbed plant is able to put forth 

 and naturally the former are less liable to injury and 

 breakage when lifted than the latter. 



There are probably no plants which cannot be 

 transplanted by a skilled operator, but there are many 

 which certainly will not tolerate the treatment of any 

 but an expert and some that even the expert shrinks 

 from handling. Usually these are species or varieties 

 which send straight down, deep into the earth, a long, 

 trunk-like root which is called a tap-root. This 

 simply will not yield to removal without breakage. 



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