Transplanting. 237 



replanting the latter in a different location. Trans- 

 planting is a violent operation because the younger roots 

 with their root-hairs that absorb the greater part of the 

 water required for the plant (101) are, as a rule, largely 

 sacrificed in the lifting process. The water supply, so 

 vitally important to the plant (62), is thus greatly cur- 

 tailed until new root-hairs can be formed. 



Vigorous plants are generally better able to endure 

 transplanting than feebler ones, because they can sooner 

 repair the damage done to their roots. It follows that 

 plants endure transplanting with less facility as they 

 advance in age beyond the period of greatest vigor (9). 



401. The Most Favorable Time for Transplanting, 

 in the case of plants that live more than one year, is 

 during the dormant period, because growth processes 

 are then least active, and comparatively little water is 

 needed. In countries having mild winters, the most 

 favorable time for transplanting is generally at the be- 

 ginning of the dormant period, provided this comes at 

 a moist season of the year. The roots will then have 

 time to slowly callus over their wounds and to form 

 new rootlets, and thus be prepared for active growth in 

 spring. But in countries of severe winters, where the. 

 roots are largely frozen in the soil for two or three 

 months, and in countries in which the autumn is gener- 

 ally dry, spring is, as a rule, the more favorable season 

 for transplanting. 



Trees that have been long exposed to cold, drying 

 winds and have thus suffered depletion of water from 

 their buds and branches, are better not lifted until the 

 buds begin to swell. This is especially true of ever- 



