November, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



319 



The Transplanting of Growing Trees 



By Charles Day 



I T is no longer necessary to wait ten 

 or fifteen years until shade trees at- 

 tain a height sufficiently majestic to 

 become an ornament to an estate. 

 The modern landscape architect all 

 but furnishes the surroundings of a 

 country seat to order. Indeed, he even proceeds 

 with his work while the house is still in course of 

 construction. Long Island, in particular, can offer 

 fine specimens of forest growth ranging from 

 twenty-five to fifty years, including such trees as 

 silver maple, Norway maple, beech, birch, linden, 

 fir, hemlock and cherry. And yet few of these trees 

 originally grew where they may now be seen. In 

 order to hasten nature's processes, the landscape gar- 

 dener employs a mechanical contrivance that uproots 

 a tree, carrying it, with much of its primeval earth, 

 to the spot which it is to adorn. Apparently it would 

 seem impossible to transplant a tree fifty feet in 

 height with a trunk varying from one to two and one-half or 

 three feet in diameter at the base. Such a tree must have a sys- 

 tem of roots so extensive and so ramified that transplanting, 

 if not difficult, would seem to be at least fatal to the life of the 

 tree. And yet trees of this magnitude are easily transplanted. 

 Several types of tree transplanters have been used of late 

 years with marked success. The tree mover which Mr. 

 Henry Hicks invented has proved very efficient. In opera- 

 ting with this apparatus, the tree, if of fourteen to twenty- 

 six inches in diameter at the trunk, is dug by starting a cir- 

 cular trench of a diameter of 

 thirty to forty feet. An under- 

 cut is made beneath the roots 

 with a light prospecting pick. 

 The soil is thereupon picked out 

 and down with a fork or a pick- 

 ing rod, the points of which are 

 rounded to avoid cutting the 

 roots. The loose dirt is shoveled 

 out of the bottom of the trench; 

 the roots are uncovered, tied in 

 bundles with lath yarn, and bent 

 up out of the way of the diggers. 

 If the roots are exposed even for 

 a day in dry weather, the bundles 

 are wrapped in clay, mud, damp 

 moss and straw, or burlap. 

 When the digging has pro- 

 gressed within from four to 

 eight feet of the center, the tree 

 is slightly tipped over to loosen 

 the central ball, which cleaves 

 from the subsoil near the ex- 

 tremities of the downward roots. 

 On sand or hard-pan subsoil 

 this is at a depth of two to five 

 feet. In deep soil it may be 

 necessary to cut some downward 

 roots. A ball of earth is left in 

 the center from five to twelve 

 feet in diameter, which is a load 

 about as heavy as a team of four 

 to eight horses can draw. This 



Driving in the Blades 



ball is not essential with deciduous trees, but it is easier :o 

 lift it than to remove it. If the tree be fine rooted, like the 

 red maple, it is difficult to pick out the soil. Coarse rooted 

 trees, on the other hand, such as the beech, soon lose their 

 ball because the earth in which they grow is gravelly. 



In loading a tree for removal, the cradle of the mover, 

 which is pivoted above or back of the axle, is swung over 

 to the tree, the trunk first being wrapped with cushions and 

 slats. The tree is then clamped to the cradle by chains and 

 screws without injuring the bark. By means of a nine-foot 



screw operated by a ratchet 

 lever, or hand-brake wheel, the 

 cradle lifts the tree from the 

 hole and swings it over to a hori- 

 zontal position. Pulling in the 

 same direction by tackle fastened 

 in the top of the tree aids the 

 work of the screw. After the 

 tree is loaded, the roots on the 

 other side of the axle are tied up 

 to the perches. The front 

 wheels are on pivots, for which 

 reason the roots are not broken 

 by the swinging of the axle. 

 Next the roots are drawn aside 

 to put in the pole and driver's 

 seat. Planks are placed under 

 the wheels and the mover is 

 pulled out of the hole by tackle. 

 The hole to receive the tree is 

 prepared with a layer of soft 

 mud in the bottom, which partly 

 fills the crevices between the 

 roots as the tree is lowered into 

 it. The weight of the tree is 

 not allowed to rest upon and 

 crush the downward roots, but 

 is supported by the mover until 

 the fine earth is packed in. The 

 soil is worked down between the 

 center roots in the form of mud 

 by means of a stream of water 

 Wagon and packing sticks. The side 



