TRANSPLANTING. 95 
this late time more care must be taken in doing the work than 
when it is done earlier. Ivergreens can sometimes be moved 
successiully in August, or even in the autumn, if they are to be 
carried only a short distance and the conditions of the weather 
and land are favorable; but this is not a time for general plant- 
ing, and it is seldom advisable to do it at this season. 
The Very General Error is Current that June is the best 
time to plant out evergreens. ‘They may be transplanted at this 
season successfully if the conditions are just right in every par- 
ticular, but they are much more liable to failure than when the 
work is done earlier in the season. At whatever time of the 
year evergreens are to be moved, the- work should be done in 
such a manner as to protect the roots from having even the 
appearance of being dry, for if dried ever so little the probabili- 
ties of their living are much lessened. The kind of treatment 
that would be considered all right for apple trees might be fatal 
to evergreens, as they are much more susceptible to injury from 
drying. 
In addition to the above precautions to be taken when mov- 
ing evergreens, it is desirable to shorten back the limbs about 
one-third, to compensate for the loss of roots. Of course this 
shortening should not be done in such a way as to disfigure the 
tree, but, when the roots are in any way severely mutilated, the 
whole top makes more of a draft on them for moisture than the 
roots can supply. This pruning is not so necessary in the case 
of young seedling evergreens or nursery-grown trees that have 
been recently transplanted, for when they are moved their root 
systems are not seriously injured. 
Very Small Evergreens and Other Small Plants are 
often set in trenches made with a spade, as shown in figure 16. 
For this method the soil must be loose, and yet sufficiently com- 
pact so that it can be cut with a spade and not crumble before 
the plants can be set out. The beds are made about six feet 
wide, and a board of this length and six inches wide should be 
used. The soil is thrown out with a spade (A) to the depth of 
about six inches, but no wider than necessary to just take in the 
roots. The plants are then placed in position by hand, and a 
little soil pushed against them to hold them in place. (B) The 
trench is then half filled and the soil firmly compacted by the feet. 
The remainder of the soil is then put in and leveled off, the 
