150 THE NURSERY. 



SECTION 7. TAKING UP TREES FROM THE NURSERY. 



This is an operation that should be well understood, 

 and performed with the greatest care. The importance of 

 the fibrous roots has been already explained. It has been 

 shown that they are the principal absorbing parts of the 

 roots, and when they are destroyed the tree receives a 

 great shock, from which it requires good treatment and a 

 long time to recover. There is a great difference in the 

 character of roots, some penetrating the ground to a great 

 depth, and requiring much labor in the removal, others 

 quite fibrous near the surface, and consequently very 

 easily taken up. This difference is not owing alone to 

 the difference in the species, but to whether the subjects 

 have or have not been frequently transplanted. The way 

 to take up a tree properly, is to dig a trench on each side 

 at the extremities of the lateral or spreading roots, taking 

 care that the edge, and not the face of the spade, be kept 

 next the tree, so that the roots will not be cut off. When 

 this trench is so deep as to be below all the lateral roots, 

 a slight pull, and a pry on each side with the spade, will 

 generally bring out the trees. If there be strong tap 

 roots, running down to a great depth, they may be cut 

 with a stroke of the spade. Laborers who have not been 

 accustomed to the work, invariably perform it badly, and 

 it is difficult to get it properly done even by experienced 

 hands. It is a work requiring care and leisure, though it 

 is usually performed slovenly and in great haste. 



Labelling. When a tree, or a number of trees, of any 

 variety are taken up, a label, with the name written on it, 

 should at once be attached. The kind of label used in 

 the nurseries here, is a piece of pine about three and a half 

 inches long, three fourths of an inch wide, and one eighth 



