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MANUAL OF GARDENING 



Other and more elaborate devices are in use, but this explains 

 the idea and is therefore sufficient for the present purpose ; for 

 when a person desires to remove a very large tree he should 

 secure the services of an expert. 



The following more explicit directions for moving large trees 

 are by Edward Hicks, who has had much experience in the 

 business, and who made this report to the press a few years ago : 

 "In moving large trees, say those ten to 

 twelve inches in diameter and twenty-five 

 to thirty feet high, it is well to prepare 

 them by trimming and cutting or sawing 

 off the roots at a proper distance from the 

 trunks, say six to eight feet, in June. 

 The cut roots heal over and send out 

 fibrous roots, which should not be in- 

 jured more than is necessary in moving 

 the trees next fall or spring. Young, 

 thrifty maples and elms, originally 

 from the nursery, do not 

 need such preparation 

 nearly as much as other 

 and older trees. In mov- 

 ing a tree, we begin by 



148. Moving a large tree. 



digging a wide trench six to eight feet from it, leaving all possible 

 roots fast to it. By digging under the tree in the wide trench, and 

 working the soil out of the roots by means of round or dull- 

 pointed sticks, the soil falls into the cavity made under the tree. 

 Three or four men in as many hours could get so much of the 

 soil away from the roots that it would be safe to attach a rope 

 and tackle to the upper part of the trunk and to some adjoining 

 post or tree for the purpose of pulling the tree over. A good 

 quantity of bagging must be put around the tree under the rope 

 to prevent injury, and care should be taken that the pulling of 

 the rope does not split off or break a limb. A team is hitched to 



