NATIVE AND HARDY EVERGREENS 229 



this in September the shrub can establish itself 

 before winter — hence the object of waiting until late 

 spring, when autumn has been missed, as root 

 growth has again begun. Autumn is a season 

 generally of much atmospheric moisture, grateful 

 dews, and welcome rains. It is the season for 

 planting in general, and seldom is the work seriously 

 disturbed until Christmas is past. We have shifted 

 many evergreens without one failure in April and 

 quite late in May, but our anxieties are great when 

 the life-giving rains refuse to refresh the earth. The 

 spring of 1901 will never be forgotten as a season of 

 dry winds and brilliant sunshine, without rain to 

 temper the unfortunate conditions, and the result 

 was a great loss amongst newly planted evergreens. 

 Mr. Bean says : " Some evergreens can with reason- 

 able care be moved with perfect safety at any time, 

 except perhaps from July to September. Rhodo- 

 dendrons are an example. During the last ten years 

 I have transplanted them in every month of the year, 

 except July and August. Indeed, in the case of Rho- 

 dodendrons and most evergreen ericaceous plants, 

 the problems of transplanting scarcely arise, simply 

 because the fine fibres hold the soil so completely 

 that the root system can, with due care, be removed 

 practically intact. For the same reasons, very 

 careful transplanting, such as is practised with a 

 transplanting machine, may also be done at almost 

 any season. 



"When the roots of large evergreen shrubs have 

 been unavoidably damaged, it is often a good plan 



