644 Retrospective Criticism. 



evils in part remain the same as they ever did in my day, and that it requires 

 every person who is well acquainted with them to give them a kick in passing 

 till they are brought down. 



During the last twelve years we have planted here some hundreds of single 

 trees and bushes on the turf, and in groups and thickets, with underwood, or 

 rather blackthorn and bramble, gorse, broom, &c The trees consisted of 

 oak, lime, elm, walnut, ash, sycamore, Spanish chestnut, horsechestnut, and 

 beech, and the single bushes were hawthorn ; but by far the greater portion 

 were oaks and Spanish chestnuts. They were of various sizes ; the largest 

 were about 30 ft. high, of 5 or 6 tons' weight ; the middle size varied from 

 15 ft. to 20 ft. ; and the smallest size varied from 10 ft. to 15 ft. The two last- 

 sized trees were taken out of the young plantations, and thousands of the 

 smallest size have been taken and planted on trenched ground, to form new plant- 

 ations. These, 1 suppose, are about the same kind of stuff which you advise 

 to be transplanted by " heading in." They were all taken up and planted, 

 without any previous preparation of either roots or branches, save that neces- 

 sary preparation, in all such cases, of having the plantations thinned every 

 two years, or thereabouts ; as, where the quality of the soil varies as it does 

 here, no definite period can be given for the performance of such operations 

 as that of thinning, wherefore the operator must be the discriminator. These, 

 our smallest stuff, were taken up with as many roots as possible, and with as 

 much earth, in the shape of a ball, as could not be conveniently got out of the 

 roots. The bottoms of these balls were flattened, and two of them were 

 placed on a small machine, or truck as it is here called, the trees standing 

 upright; these were taken about a mile and a half, to their place of destina- 

 tion, by a horse and two men. The tops of the trees were tied together, and 

 a cord from these to the handle of the truck, to prevent the trees from falling 

 backwards, and another cord from the same point to a man behind, who pre- 

 vented them from falling forwards, or right or left, as the unevenness of the 

 road might change their centre of gravity. The men who guided the handle 

 of the truck guided the horse also, by lines. The middle-sized trees were 

 transported, one at a time, on the same machine. 



This is a very expeditious mode of peopling a barren landscape with trees, 

 both for immediate and future effect. The huge old oaks, and other large 

 trees, were transplanted by Sir H. Steuart's three-wheeled machine, in favour 

 of which too much cannot be said ; as, where a gentleman determines to have 

 the large-sized trees transplanted, they can be transported by that machine 

 with the greatest ease, providing always that there is plenty of " sea-room," 

 as my men term it, that is, plenty of room between the gateways, &c. &c. 

 The young trees which we planted on trenched ground were taken up with- 

 out balls, and were transported on a waggon with low wheels, 40 or 50 at a 

 time. All has been executed on the non-mutilating system, save in those 

 trees which we planted on the turf, where both young and old were pruned 

 up to the browsing line, and they have succeeded to the satisfaction of my 

 employer and every other gentleman who has seen them. It has been 

 rumoured in the arboricultural world that we fastened the large trees in the 

 ground by rails crossing the roots at right angles, the ends of the rails 

 being nailed to stakes, and the whole being under the surface of the ground. 

 This, however, has not been the case, as we never tied a tree, either 

 large or small, with any tie, nail, stake, or rail, whatsoever ; and, as Sir 

 Henry Steuart justly observed, the largest trees resist the wind much better 

 than the small ones ; for, while many of the small trees got blown aside, the 

 large ones never moved an inch from the centre of gravity which we left 

 them at. Their security in this respect, nevertheless, depends on the exe- 

 cution of the work ; it is hard work, and if it is slipped over, the trees will slip 

 down. Wherefore, having practised thus much on the non-mutilating system 

 of planting with success, and notwithstanding the practice of gardening teach- 

 ing me, that, if ever I transplanted my grandfather, I ought to mutilate both his 

 head and his heels, I no longer subscribe to the ancient practice of transplant- 



