374 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



where what is called the preparation system 

 has been followed ; or immediately above 

 that zone in which the roots are placed when 

 trees are either planted without balls alto- 

 gether, or having their most important ones 

 beyond the ball, if managed as recommended 

 by Mr Barron. 



Fig. 140 will explain his method, and will 

 clearly enough show that, by adopting this course, 

 a far greater amount of roots can and will be re- 

 moved, attached to a tree, than could be by 

 any process of ball preparation. As the process 

 of separating the roots from the soil is carried 

 into effect, they should be tied up in small 

 bundles ; and if the weather be hot or very dry, 

 they would be greatly benefited if enveloped in 

 soft hay, damp moss, &c. — and this the more so, 

 if their removal is to a great distance, or if they 

 are to be subject to lengthened exposure. The 

 same number of roots, as here shown, could not 

 by any possibility within the power of man be 

 so safely removed if enclosed within a ball of 

 earth. The preparation system may no doubt 

 be of advantage in the case of very rare or valu- 

 able trees, naturally difiScult of removal ; but 

 we think it requires to be carried farther than 

 any description we have read of it, or any ex- 

 ample we have hitherto seen reduced to prac- 

 tice. 



The transplantation of trees of great age and 

 size has long been a weighty consideration with 

 ornamental planters. The greatest difficulty, 

 however, which for long presented itself, was 

 the means of lifting them to the surface, and of 

 conveying them to their new abode. Brown, 

 the most noted transplanter of his day, em- 

 ployed the common janker. Sir Henry Steuart 

 and others improved upon that ; but still his 

 machine was defective. It is only, therefore, 

 within these few years that machines at all 

 adapted to the purpose have been constructed 

 upon correct principles, and these, as a conse- 

 quence arising from the importance of the case, 

 have of late multiplied exceedingly. Mr Saul 

 and the late Mr M'Nab were amongst the first 

 who applied mechanical aid to the removal of 

 large trees in an upright position, and the suc- 

 cess of the latter was most complete. Mr Bar- 

 ron of Elveston, who, we believe, has removed 

 the largest trees hitherto attempted in Britain, 

 has also, as a mechanical inventor and most suc- 

 cessful planter, given sufficient evidence of his 

 ingenuity, as has Mr Holmes of Amport House, 

 and Mr Mackay, the enterprising gardener to 

 Edward Strutt, Esq. of Kingston Hall, near 

 Derby ; and last, although by no means least, 

 Mr S. M'Glashan, a respectable sculptor in 

 Edinburgh, who, treating the matter more me- 

 chanically than physiologically, has taken plan- 

 ters by surprise in the performances he has 

 already exhibited. 



Mr Saul's tree and shrub lifting machine, 

 fig. 132, is of very simple contrivance, and ex- 

 ceedingly well calculated for the removal of 

 subjects under half a ton in weight. It may be 

 described as a low two-wheeled truck, with 

 strong hooks attached to the hinder part, to 

 which the cradle in which the plant is placed 

 is suspended ; in front is a long pole, which acts 



as a lever in upraising the plant, as well as 

 securing the ball when loaded, and also as the 



Fig. 132. 



^ < 



1- a^^i^ 



SAUL 8 TRANSPLANTING MACHINE. 



means of draught, as at its farthest end a cross 

 bar is fixed (not shown in the cut), by which 

 men drag it along, or to which a horse may be 

 yoked. The ball is prepared in the usual man- 

 ner, and when the trench around it is opened, 

 one of the iron sides a, which forms the cradle, 

 is set upright in the trench, close to the ball, 

 and three iron rods are passed through it, under 

 the ball, and also through the corresponding 

 holes in the other iron side b, which, for the 

 purpose, is placed in the trench exactly opposite 

 the first. These three iron rods (there may be 

 more if the ball is large or the ground sandy, 

 but for each rod there must be corresponding 

 holes in each of the sides) are furnished at one 

 end, as shown in the cut, with eyes, and at the 

 other with screws, so that, when they are all 

 fitted in their places, they may be screwed up 

 tightly so as to keep the opposite sides of the 

 ball together. Those we use are somewhat 

 different from Mr Saul's, which has only one 

 upright arm to each of the two sides, while ours 

 has three, as shown in the cut. By our three 

 upright arms we not only secure the under side 

 of the ball (which is all Mr Saul did), but we 

 also secure the sides, and if need be the ball all 

 round, by running iron rods through the arms, 

 which it will be seen by the sketch are perforated 

 on purpose. These sides and rods being all 



