18 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



As a seasoif. for rural improvements, the fall is preferable to the 

 spring, partly because the earth is dryer, and more easily moved and 

 worked, and partly because there is more time to do well what we 

 undertake. In the middle States, fine autumnal weather is, often 

 continued till the middle of December ; and as long as the ground 

 is open and mellow, the planting of hardy trees may be done with 

 the best chances of success. The surface may be smoothed, drains 

 made, walks and roads laid out, and all the heavier operations on 

 the surface of the earth so requisite as a groundwork for lawns and 

 pleasure-grounds, kitchen or flower-gardens may be carried on 

 more cheaply and efficiently than amid the bustle and hurry of 

 spring. And when sharp frosty nights fairly set in, then is the time 

 to commence the grander operations of transplanting. Then is the 

 time for moving large trees elms, maples, etc. ; a few of which will 

 give more effect to a new and bare site than thousands of the young 

 things, which are the despair of all improvers of little faith and ar- 

 dent imaginations. With two or three " hands," a pair of horses or 

 oxen, a " stone boat," or low sled, and some ropes or " tackle," the 

 removal of trees twenty-five feet high, and six or eight inches in the 

 diameter of the stem, is a very simple and easy process. A little 

 practice will enable a couple of men to do it most perfectly and 

 efficiently; and if only free-growing trees, like elms, maples, lin- 

 dens, or horse-chestnuts, are chosen, there is no more doubt of suc- 

 cess than in planting a currant bush. Two or three points we may, 

 however, repeat, for the benefit of the novice, viz., to prepare the 

 soil thoroughly by digging a large hole, trenching it two-and-a-half 

 feet deep, and filling it with rich soil ; to take up the tree with a 

 good mass of roots, inclosed in a ball of frozen earth ;* and to re- 

 duce the ends of the limbs, evenly all over the top, in order to lessen 

 the demand for sustenance, made on the roots the first summer after 

 removal. 



This is not only the season to plant very hardy trees ; it is also 



* This is easily done by digging a trench all round, leaving a ball about 

 four or five feet in diameter ; undermining it well, and leaving it to freeze for 

 one or two nights. Then turn the tree down, place the uplifted side of the 

 ball upon the " stone boat ; " right the trunk, and get the whole ball firmly 

 upon the sled, and then the horses will drag it easily to its new position. 



