252 Description of a Transplant l7ig Machine 



should be taken before commencing an undertaking on which, 

 in a great measure, the success of every branch of horticulture 

 and agriculture depends ; and, therefore, it becomes a matter of 

 the greatest importance that every circumstance should be inves- 

 tigated, for the purpose of discovering the cause from which this 

 or thav proceeds. That some land may be over-drained, I 

 admit ; but this is of rare occurrence, and a remedy soon pre- 

 sents itself; that is, shutting up the mouths of the drains 

 when necessary, and thus forcing the water back whence it 

 proceeded. This may be continued for any length of time, and 

 may prove beneficial in dry seasons. However, I consider stag- 

 nant water, in all cases, to be injurious to vegetation ; and plants 

 can neither perspire nor luxuriate when saturated with this 

 element. Where surface soil rests on a subsoil moderately 

 porous, both will hold water by capillary attraction, and what is 

 not so retained will sink into the inferior strata by its own gravity ; 

 but, when the subsoil is retentive, it will resist water, and ulti- 

 mately by accumulating it in the surface soil, cause diseases 

 which are detrimental, and would soon prove fatal, to the vege- 

 table system. 



Exotic Nursery^ King's Road, April 4. 1840. 



Art. VI. Description of a Transplanting Machine invented by James 

 Kidd, Gardener to Lord Kiniiaird, Rossie Priory Gardens, Perth- 

 shire. By J. KiDD. 



I SEND a miniature model of a machine which I lately in- 

 vented for the removal of large shrubs, and which, after repeated 

 experiments, I can confidently recommend as admirably adapted 

 for that purpose. 



[This machine may be described as a gigantic 5-pronged fork, 

 mounted on a pair of wheels and axle, the latter serving as a 

 fulcrum for lifting up the tree out of the hole formed by digging 

 round it, and, with the wheels, facilitating the removal of the 

 plant to the place of its destination. The length of the axle 

 between the wheels is 2 ft. ; the axle 4 in. deep, and 2 j in. 

 thick : the handle, or lever, is 10 ft. long, mortised into the axle ; 

 it is 6 in. deep and 3^ in. thick : the prongs are 2 ft. long and 

 2\ in. deep : the wheels are 1 ft. 4 in. in diameter. All the parts 

 are of wood, except the prongs, which ought to be of wrought 

 iron, and firmly fixed into the axle with screw-nuts. The 

 handle, or lever, has two iron braces to fix it the more firmly to 

 the axle; and at the extreme end it has an iron loop, to which to 

 attach a cord for pulling it down, when the prongs are under 

 the ball of the tree to be lifted up.] 



I have tried the power of this machine in the lifting of large 



