420 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



moved by an ordinary force, you may then raise 

 it with a crane, or pulley, hanging between a 

 triangle, made of three strong and tall limbs 

 united at the top, where a pulley is fastened, as 

 the cables are to be under the quarters which 

 bear the earth about the roots, for by this means 

 you may weigh up and place the whole weighty 

 clod upon a trundle, sledge, or other cai-riage, to 

 be conveyed and replanted where you please, be- 

 ing let down perpendicularly into the place by 

 the help of the foresaid engine. And by this 

 address you may transplant trees of a wonderful 

 stature without the least disorder, and many 

 times without topping, a diminution of the head, 

 which is of great importance where this is prac- 

 tised to supply a defect or remove a curiosity."* 



Such are the directions of Evelyn, which lately 

 have been revived and put in practice by Sir J. 

 Stewart of Allanton, and many others. 



About sixty years after the time of Evelyn, 

 the " transplanting machine" was invented by 

 Brown, the celebrated landscape-gardener, and 

 the removal of large trees became much more 

 easy. The machine consisted of two very high 

 wheels, an axle, and a pole; and when the trees 

 were large, a truck-wheel was used at the end of 

 the pole. The tree was considerably lopped, the 

 earth loosened from the roots, the pole set erect 

 and lashed to the stem ; and then a purchase 

 being made ftist to the upper part of the pole, 

 the whole was pulled at once, and drawn hori- 

 zontallj' along. 



Still, though this machine, and the mode of 

 using it, were great improvements upon the me- 

 thods recommended by Evelyn, yet the trees 

 were subjected to much mutilation, and they 

 did not recover their beauty and vigour till some 

 time had elapsed. 



In the year 181C a much improved mode of 

 transplanting grown timber was introduced by 

 Sir Henry Stuart of Allanton. By the practice 

 of that mode, he, in the course of five years, and 

 at an expense remarkably moderate, converted 

 his park, from a cold and naked field, to a rich 

 scene of glade and woodland. Sir Henry's suc- 

 cess has been so complete, that his example has 

 been followed by many other proprietors in the 

 uplands or central part of the south of Scotland. 

 Generally speaking, that part of the island is re- 

 markably destitute of timber ; and as the coun- 

 try is pastured by sheep, which require fences 

 more elevated and also more close than cattle, 

 the rearing of wood, in the common way of 

 planting, is very expensive. The nakedness of 

 that part of Scotland is severely felt in the vio- 

 lence of the winds, which are certainly more 

 tempestuous, and attended by more intense cold, 

 than in some parts of the country much further 

 to the north, — the snows never falling to the 



* Evelyn's Sylva. 



same depth, or being accompanied by the same 

 violence on the Grampians in Perthshire, as upon 

 the naked mountains in the counties of Selkirk 

 and Peebles. In this part of the country, there- 

 fore, the invention by Sir Henry Stuart is of the 

 utmost value. Nor is its value confined to those 

 districts in which wood is wanted ; for there is 

 much in the disposition of trees, not only as re- 

 spects beauty, but as regards usefulness; and by 

 Sir Henry's plan, growing timber may be moved, 

 at no very great expense, from one place to an- 

 other, and that without almost the least inter- 

 ruption of its growth. 



According to this method, there is no mutila- 

 tion of the tree — not a branch is lopped off; and 

 at the time of the removal, not a root is broken; 

 the trees are prepared before they are begun to 

 be removed. This preparation consists in cut- 

 ting all the roots at some distance from the tree. 

 It is well known that such an operation, instead 

 of being hurtful to trees, is often of advantage. 

 When the long lateral roots are cut, the stumps, 

 if they have not been rendered too short, put out 

 a number of young fibres, which appear to draw 

 and convey the nourishment with more effect 

 than those fibres that are connected with the 

 more extended roots. 



The most handsome and thriving trees are se- 

 lected as those that will bear transplantation 

 with the least danger; and the lateral roots being 

 divided, as has been stated, the stumps are cov- 

 ered with fresh mould, in which they are left 

 for two or three years, in order that they may 

 put out new fibres for the absorption of nourish- 

 ment. This preparation of the tree actually im- 

 proves it, as the fibres have to fetch the nourish- 

 ment from a shorter distance. The tree, being 

 thus prepared, can be moved not only without 

 mutilating the top, but also without tearing up 

 the root; and thus the transplanting, if per- 

 formed with skill, becomes a healthful rather 

 than a dangerous operation. The jjits for the 

 reception of the trees are, in the meantime, got 

 ready; and for trees of about thirty feet in height 

 (the diameter of the trunk of such a tree may 

 average about a foot), the diameter of these pits 

 is about eighteen feet. The earth of the pits is 

 trenched to the depth of about two feet; and in 

 the course of the trenching, it is well mixed with 

 compost of a nature as different as possible from 

 that of the soil ; and the ground thus prepared 

 is the better if it lie for a year or more, in order 

 that the component parts of the soil may be pro- 

 perly mixed and mellowed. When that has 

 been done, the planting is accomplished by re- 

 moving the earth to a proper depth, placing the 

 tree in the pit thus made for it, adjusting the 

 roots as nearly as possible to their natural order, 

 and then covering them with earth. This being 

 properly accomplished, the firmness which the 

 trees have is much greater than would at first 



