172 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



September, 1913 



Planting Trees on the Farm. 



In the Victorian " Journal ol 

 Agriculture," Mr. A. Tatham liivos 

 some hints on practical sylvicul- 

 culture, from which we extract 

 the following : — 



— Planting with Balls ol Kartli 

 or from Pots. — 



A hole is usually cut, and this 

 must be larger than the ball ol 

 earth attached to the plant. To 

 ensjure uniformity a special spade 

 is, as a rule, used, which enables 

 the nurser\man to lilt each plant 

 with the same size ball of earth. 

 The spade is circidar, with one 

 side open ; it is also slightly, coni- 

 cal. An excellent transplanter can 

 be constructed from an ordinary 

 one-pound jam tin. When lifted 

 the plant shoidd be jjlaced in the 

 hole at the same depth as it is 

 growing in the nursery, and great 

 care shoidd be taken to press the 

 earth weU all round the ball at- 

 tached to the jjlant, for ^ihouLd 

 water get in the hole and lie at 

 its roots it means failure. 



— Planting with a Peg. — 



This is an excellent system where 

 the ground is free from stones and 

 not too tenacious. It is usually 

 best adopted for putting in plants 

 with long tap roots. The usual 

 method is to use a wooden peg ; 

 this is pushed into the ground, the 

 plant placed in the resulting hole, 

 the peg is then inserted again on 

 one side of the plant, but at a 

 little distance otf, and after it is 

 inserted it is pushed towards the 

 plant, thereby causing the earth 

 between it and the plant to be 

 pressed into the space first made 

 by the peg. The roots by this 

 means are firmly pressed, and 

 hold a fairly, natural position. This 

 is undoubtedly a cheap and iijUick 

 method of planting, i)rr>\dded the 

 soil is free, but it is only suited to 

 small plants. 



. — Notching. — 



This system is done in two 

 ways. The first is to make a 

 \'-shaped cut in the earth, into 

 which the young plant is inserted, 

 and the earth iiiied in and pressed 

 down. This V can be cut in two 

 ways, with a notching axe or with 

 a notching spade. The latter is 

 the easier of the two instruments 

 to work. It is shaped like an or- 

 dinary spade, but of somewhat 

 stouter budd, and at the top is 

 about 2-in. thick. It is driven 

 into the ground similarly to a 

 spade, and worked backwards and 

 forwards till the cut is sulticiently 

 wide. Th,e plant is placed in the 

 cut, and earth pressed in on it. 

 This system of planting is employ- 

 ed in France to a large extent, 

 where small plants are put out. 

 The second method of notching is 

 done with a spade. A cut is 

 made in the ground, and at right 

 angles to it another cut is made, 

 forming the letter T. The> spade is 

 put in at the top of the T, and 

 the handle is depressed,; the blade 

 is thereby forced upward, and, in 

 doing so, opens the lower portion 

 of the T ;i into this opening the 

 plant is placed, the spade with- 

 drawn and the earth pressed down 

 with the feet of the operator. This 

 method is employed in some of 

 the English plantations. It is, 

 however, not considered a satis- 

 .actory one ; as, owing to the blade 

 of the spade being in the way, the 

 roots of the plant cannot bei put 

 down straight, or, in fact, natural- 

 ly, unless the plant is a very small 

 one, consequently, when the earth 

 is pressing down, as often as not 

 the roots are turned upwards. 

 There is nothing so conducive to 

 utter failure, or, at least, to a seri- 

 ous check to the growing plant, as 

 turning up of the roots. 



♦ 



Good dairy cows can only be 

 assured by breeding sires and dams 

 that have the qnaHties essential 

 for good milkers. 



The Evolution of the Horse. 



Whdst all domestic animals 

 hav-e, through the tedious process 

 of evolution, undergone wonderful 

 chang^es, none of them have at- 

 tained so great distinction in this 

 respect as the horse. In tlie bo- 

 vine of to-day we find a resemb- 

 lance to the fossil remains of mil- 

 lions of years ago. The same is 

 true with sheep and pig. There are 

 changes in form and in the size of 

 cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats, as 

 well as of the dog, Bntj still in a 

 general way their anatomical struc- 

 ture resembles that which is found 

 in the fossil remains of these ani- 

 mals in the eocene formation of the 

 rocks. But not so with the horse. 



It has been determined from fos- 

 sils, of a reputed age of three and 

 a half millions of years, that his 

 form' more nearly resembled that 

 of the cat of the present day, and 

 that his size was little above that 

 of a large fox. A skeleton of this 

 description has been installed in 

 the American Museum of Niatural 

 History. Instead of having a one- 

 toed foot with a shell, this speci- 

 men is furnished with a five-'toed 

 foot, not unlike that ^jf the' dog or 

 fox. 



Fossil remains of the prehistoric 

 horse have been found in nearly 

 every climate and country on tlie 

 earth. As the years rolled on, and 

 the conditions of the earth changed, 

 the horse changed with them. At 

 first his Hfe seems to have been 

 passed on the soft, swampy parts 

 of the earth. As these changed to 

 hard soil, and environment itself 

 changed, it became necessary for 

 this animal to have a shell or 

 horn foot, and slowly the five-toed, 

 spongy foot became a single -toed 

 foot. " Following on a change in 

 the soil came a change in lood, 

 and about one and a half million 

 years later the horse is met with 

 closely resembling a short-eared 

 mule. This was about one and a 

 half million years before Christ. 



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