ON TRANSPLANTING LARGIT TREES. 355 



if they choose, transform their premises from a bleak meadow to a 

 wood as thick as " Vallombroga's shade," before the spring opens; 



And now, one word mOl'e to those vho, haviilg trees, are impa- 

 tient for luxuriant growth ; whp desire to see annual shoots of six 

 feet instead of twenty inches ; and who do not so much care what 

 it cost^ to make a few trees in a faTorite site advance rapidly, pro- 

 vided it'is possible. What they wish to know is, can the thing be 

 done ? 



We answer, yes. To make a hardy tree* grow three times as 

 fast ia a summer as it usually does (we speak now, of course, of 

 trees in a common soil), it is only necessary that it should have 

 three times the depth for the roots to grow in, and three times the- 

 amount of food for its consumption while growing. 



And, first of all, for very rapid and luxuriant growth in our cli- 

 mate, the soil must be deep — deep — deep. Three feet of trenching 

 or subsoiUng is imperative ; and we have seen astonishing results, 

 where places for trees twelve feet broad and five feet deep have been 

 .prepared for them. If toy one of our readers will take the trouble 

 to watch an elm-tree making its growth next season, he will notice 

 that, if the season is moist and cool, the shoots wiU continue to 

 lengthen till past midsummer ; but if, on the contrary, the season is 

 a dry one, all growth wUlbe over by, the middle of June. Why 

 does the growth cease so early in the seasor^ Simply because the 

 moment the moisture in, the soil fails, and the roots feel the efiects 

 of the sun, the terminal buds form at the end of each shoot, and 

 then all growth for.' the season is over. Deepen the soU, so that- the 

 roots go on growing in its cool, moist depths, and the tops will go 

 on lengthening, despite the power of the sun ; nay, so long as there 

 is moisture, by the help of it. And hence, the length of time which 

 a tree will continue to grow, depends mainly upon the depth of the 

 soil in which it is planted. 



Ji any skeptic wishes to be convinced of the effects of deep and 



* We Bay a har^y tree, because every artorioulturist knows that to pro- 

 mote extra luxuriance, in a tree not perfectly haj-dy, increases its tenderness, 

 because the wood will not ripen well, like short jointed .growth ; but there 

 is no fear of this with elms, oaks, maples, Or any perfectly hardy native 

 trees. ■" 



