126 



AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



indicated ; these should be loosened and freed until all ap- 

 pear to be free, when, by grasping the collar as low down 

 as possible, the tree is to be lifted gently and freed from 

 the soil ; no force should be used beyond that which is ab- 

 solutely necessary, to lift the plant from its bed. 



In the great commercial nurseries, all this care cannot 

 be exercised ; everything must be done in the large way, 

 and labor-saving appliances, the valuable results of 



Fig. 23. — HABENESS' TREE DIOQER. 



human thought, but still not thinking nor observing intel- 

 ligences, must be used. One of this class is the tree-dig- 

 ger, which, in the prairie soils, is used with very good 

 success. It consists of a very large deep plow, without 

 any mold-board, but with a wide sharp steel share, which 

 is turned up at the edges, so as to cut the lateral roots at 

 some distance from the trees. It is drawn on each side 

 of the row, by four horses, hitched ad tandem. The trees 

 may then easily be lifted from the loose prairie soil. The 

 accompanying engraving shows the tree digger of Mr. E. 

 Harkness, which is much used in the nurseries of Illinois 

 and other Western States. The figure is sufficiently clear, 



