406 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



great kingdoms, the vegetable and animal, the distinctions between 

 which are daily disappearing, as nearly all the organic matters 

 which were supposed to distinguish the vegetable from the animal 

 have been discovered in both, and motion even no longer separates 

 the two. 



You often hear persons say that it is difficult to make t;§p 

 rooted trees live, because in taking them up the tap root is neces- 

 sarily cut olf. This is an error that cannot be supported by my 

 experience, the tap root is only of advantage during the infancy 

 of the tree, and at mature age cannot be discerned from the other 

 roots. It is only those who are unacquainted with the physiology 

 of plants that meet with bad success in planting. Trees must be 

 adapted to their proper soil and appropriate climate, or the efforts 

 of nature will be counteracted. Plants should always be headed 

 down when two years old. I have often tried this experiment 

 with different species, by heading a row and leaving a row; those 

 headed in made seven feet of a growth in a year, those not 

 headed two feet. Some of the headed rows grew twenty feet in 

 two years, while those not headed grew six feet. Many persons 

 when they remove a large tree head it in upon the principle that 

 the roots have .been much reduced by transplanting, and that the 

 heads should be so in proportion, this is wrong, though I have 

 practiced it largely; for without the heads the roots cannot 

 receive nourishment, and the sap is lost not only at the top but 

 the bottom of the tree also. Try the experiment, and you will 

 find that tlie tree with the top left on will do the best by one- 

 half, showing that the treatment which is proper for a small 

 plant is not so for a large tree. 



The idea that trees when transplanted should be replanted in 

 the same position and exposure in which they stood, although a 

 prejudice of very great antiquity, is fallacious, as I have never 

 observed any difference, and have made repeated trials. In plant- 

 ing trees the roots should be trimmed instead of the tops. I 

 regret to be compelled to make one statement in this connection 

 that militates against trees in pasture fields, because I so delight 

 in forest trees that I dislike to say anything about them that will 

 have a tendency to induce the farmer to cut them down, still I 

 cannot deny but that animals will increase much more rapidly in 

 open fields, exposed to the hot burning sun, not only in fattening 

 but milking qualities, than they will if permitted to enjoy the 

 shade of trees. In the first instance they are continually eating 

 and taking on fat, secreting milk, etc., and in the second instance 

 only digesting the morning meal, as they will remain almost the 



