236 GARDEXIXG FOR THE SOUTH. 



roots, which, iii some cases, are spindle-shaped and extend 

 downwards to a considerable depth, and in others run 

 along the surface. For most plants the hole should be 

 deeper at the sides than at the center, leaving' the bottom 

 convex and not basin-shaped. It should have the bottom 

 soil loosened, and in dry weather be watered, but the 

 water should be allowed to subside so as to be moist, not 

 wet, at the time of planting. It should be left of such 

 depth in all good soils, that the neck of the plant may 

 be as near the surface as before, or but a trifle above; 

 but in clayey soils, ill drained, let it be somewhat above 

 on a broad, slightly elevated mound. 



Taking up the Plants. — In this operation avoid injury 

 to the roots; with the utmost care they will be mutilated. 

 A little attention will save a year's growth to a tree. The 

 roots are of two kinds, the main roots which support the 

 plant in the earth, and the small branching or tibrous 

 roots, the fresh tips and numerous fibrils or root hairs of 

 which supply it with nourishment. These parts are of 

 great delicacy, and if injured or broken off, the plant 

 must throw out others, or perish for want of nourishment. 

 These fibrous roots are the ones most likely to be de- 

 stroyed or injured in taking up, and in replanting to be 

 squeezed between stones and hard lumps of earth, so that 

 the circulation is weakly and imperfectly carried on 

 through diseased and defective organs. The roots of a 

 tree, therefore, when transplanted, must be examined, 

 and all those injured and all the small fibrous extremities 

 in bad condition should be cut back with a sharp knife 

 to the sound parts before it is reset, in order to force the 

 root to throw out new fibers, which, in many plants, are 

 produced in great abundance from where a root has been 

 cut back with a clean cut. Roots, matted with fibers, 

 should be disentangled and soil introduced among them 

 in planting, so as to separate them from each other. 



