196 



THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUBIST. 



TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



Sir : In the Mail account of your 

 late meeting I noticed a short account of 

 transplanting trees. 



Can you kindly oblige me by inform- 

 me how I can obtain full information 

 for tratisplanting trees in this Province 

 to advantage, its projjer season, method, 

 and machinery used ? 



Can 1 obtain full details of the dis- 

 cussion of the various topics brought 

 before your Association? Such would 

 be of great interest to me. 



W. F. GRANT, Gait. 



fHE QUESTION of which is the 

 BEST SEASON 



for transplanting trees and shrubs is a 

 much debated one, some claiming that 

 fall planting is most successful, and 

 others advocating the advantages of 

 spring planting. The nurseryman 

 would naturally prefer to make as 

 heavy sales as possible in the fall, that 

 he might be eased a little of the great 

 rush of spring orders, and the unscru- 

 pulous tree agent, at this season, will 

 assure intending planters that the fall 

 is the only right time, just as earnestly 

 as he a little time ago advocated the 

 season of spring. 



The fact is tiiat we in Canada live a 

 little too far north to succeed in fall 

 planting without the greatest care. 

 Farther south, where the winters are 

 milder, it is much the preferable season. 

 There is more leisure for the work, a 

 better selection of trees can be had from 

 the nursery, the roots will become cal- 

 lused dulling the winter, and the trees 

 well established in their places in good 

 time to make the best of the growing 

 season. But here, where the winter 

 often begins iu November and the ther- 

 mometer often touches 30° or 40° be- 

 low zero, fall planting is, to say the 

 least, risky. If a hardy tree or shrub 

 is moved about the time of the fall of 



the leaf, and fine earth packed well 

 about its fibrous roots, it will probably 

 do well in Southern Ontario, if planted 

 in dry soil ; but, even here, the more 

 tender sorts will cei-tainly sufier badly, 

 and \ erhaps be killed outi'ight if plant- 

 ed at that time. 



We speak from experience. On one 

 occasion the wiiter planted at Grimsby, 

 an orchard of Hale's Early peaches in 

 the fall in the most favourable situa- 

 tion ; they did not leaf out at all until 

 the following July, and then made but 

 a poor sickly growth. He planted a 

 hundred Duchess dwarf pear trees once 

 in the fall, in soil that had fairly good 

 natural drainage, and only about twenty 

 survived the winter; though in justice 

 to the subject we must add that a hun- 

 dred planted on high and dry sand 

 came through all right. On another 

 occasion he planted an orchard of 

 Northern Spy apple trees early in the 

 fall in well-prepared soil. The season 

 was very dry after planting, and though 

 put in most carefully, being removed 

 directly fi"om the nursery rows to the 

 orchard ground, they leafed out very 

 slowly the following spring, and did 

 not make as good growth as spring- 

 planted trees. 



As to season, therefore, we advise 

 the spring as the safest and best, ex- 

 cept in exceptional cases. 



The 



MODE OF TRANSPLANTING 



is simple, and yet a few points need to 

 be impressed upon the mind of the 

 amateur. In the first place the gi-ound 

 must be thoroughly pulverized and 

 enriched. This c m be best done by 

 growing a root crop upon it the year 

 previous. It must always be borne in 

 mind that trees are living organisms 

 that want room for growth under ground 

 as well as skyward. One of our neigh- 

 bours planted a pear orchard in a tough 

 pasture field without any previous 

 breaking up of the soil. He planted 



