224 General Notices. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General J^otices. 



M'Glashen's Mode of Transplanting Trees. — We had an oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing the exhibition of a new apparatus for the lifting and 

 removal of trees, invented by Mr. Stewart M'Glashen, sculptor, in this city. 

 The exhibition took place on the grounds of Mr. Craigie Halkett Craigie 

 Inglis, of Cramond, in a park adjoining Cramond-house. The principal im- 

 provements effected by the invention are, that the root is not exposed by 

 the removal of the mould from it, thus preventing risk to the vitality of the 

 tree ; that no trench requires to be dug round it ; that the work can be ac- 

 complished with ease and expedition, and at infinitely less expense, and 

 that trees of much greater magnitude can be removed than has hitherto 

 been supposed. 



The tree experimented upon was a slender sycamore tree, of 53 feet in 

 height, and 5 feet 4 inches in circumference at the thickest part of the stem. 

 The soil was very damp, from the heavy rain of the previous night. 



The first process of Mr. M'Glashen is to lay down a frame of T-iron — in 

 this case 10 feet square. He then takes cutters made of malleable iron, 1 

 foot broad, and 3 feet deep, or, with the head and neck, 4i feet. These 

 cutters are driven by a wooden mallet into the soil to the depth of 3 feet all 

 round, and, being inserted sloping inwards, they give to the enclosed mass 

 the form of a square-blunted wedge. A rod of iron is then laid along the 

 top of the four rows of cutters, and extension-rods going across the frame 

 force the heads of the cutters apart as far as possible, and, consequently, 

 cause the points to converge at the bottom. A clasp or gland is then put 

 around the trunk of the tree, with a mat under it to preserve the bark. Two 

 parallel beams are then laid across the frame and fastened to it with chains. 

 The above constitutes the frame to be raised. The means of raising the 

 mass is a carriage (which also serves the purpose of transportation,) consist- 

 ing of two strong common carts, one at either end, with bolsters raised 

 above the axletree of both, and on which bolsters rest two massive parallel 

 beams secured to them with strong bolts. The height of the beams from 

 the ground is about 6 feet. They, of course, enclose the tree. The process 

 of lifting is exceedingly simple, the whole being accomplished by screw 

 power. The screws are four in number, and so arranged as to make the 

 lift equal. They are made fast to the beams of the frame, and are Avorked 

 by men standing on planks across the beams of the carriage. The frame 

 and enclosed mass are slowly raised, and the tree with gentle oscillation 

 moves erectly upwards. The tree may, it is evident, be raised without the 

 use of guy ropes, the solid mass of earth effectually balancing the trunk and 

 branches ; but they were used on this occasion as an extra precaution. 

 After about twenty minutes' working of the screws, the tree was completely 

 raised from the pit, the operation having been effected in an easy and grad- 

 ual manner, and amidst tributes of admiration from all around. It was not 



