TRANSPLANTING. 



47 



Preparing the places. Here is the fatal stumbling-block of all 

 novices and ignorant persons in transplanting. An English gardener, 

 when he is about to plant fruit-trees, talks about preparing his borders^' 

 an American says he will dig his holes y and we cannot give a more 

 forcible illustration of the ideas of two persons as to the wants of a 

 fruit-tree, or a better notion of the comparative provision made to sup- 

 ply these wants, than by contrasting the two phrases themselves. The 

 one looks upon a tree as a living being, whose life is to be rendered 

 long, vigorous, and fruitful by a good supply of food, and a soil mellow 

 and easily penetrated by the smallest fibre ; the other considers it very 

 much in the light of a truncheon or a post, which he thrusts into the 

 smallest possible hole, and supplies with the least portion of manure, 

 trusting to what he seems to believe the inextinguishable powers of 

 nature to make roots and branches under any circumstances. It is 

 true that the terms differ somewhat from the nature of the culture and 

 the greater preparation necessary in planting fruit-trees in England, but 

 this is not by any means sufficient to justify the difterent modes of per- 

 forming the same operation there and here. 



In truth, in this country, where the sun and climate are so favorable, 

 where pruning and training are comparatively so little necessary, the 

 ' great requisite to success in the ordinary culture of fruit-trees is the 

 proper preparation of the soil before a tree is planted. Whether a trans- 

 planted tree shall struggle several years to recover, or grow moderately 

 after a short time, or at once start into a very luxuriant and vigorous 

 growth, depends entirely upon the amount of care and labor the planter 

 is willing to bestow on the soil for his trees. We have seen several 

 instances where, side by side, one man planted his trees in large spaces 

 of deeply moved and rich soil, and another in small holes in the com- 

 mon mode, which uniformly showed the trees of the first larger after 

 five years than those of the last after twelve. 



No fruit-tree should be planted in a hole of less size than three feet 

 square, and eighteen inches to two feet deep. To this size and depth 

 the soil should be removed and well pulverized, and it should, if neces- 

 sary, be properly enriched by the application of well-rotted manure, 

 which must be thoroughly mixed with the whole mass of prepared soil 

 by repeated turnings with the spade. This preparation will answer, but 

 the most skilful cultivators among us make their spaces four or five feet 

 in diameter, or three times the size of the roots, and it is incredible how 

 much the luxuriance and vigor of growth, even in a poor soil, is pro- 

 moted by this. No after-mending of the soil, or top-dressings applied 

 to the surface, can, in a climate of dry summers like ours, equal the 

 effects of this early and deep loosening and enriching the soil. Its 

 effects on the growth and health of the tree are permanent, and the 

 little expense and care necessary in this preparation is a source of early 

 and constant pleasure to the planter. This preparation may be made 

 just before the tree is planted, but in heavy soils it is much better to do 

 it several months previously ; and no shallow ploughing of the soil can 

 obviate the necessity and advantages of the practice where healthy, 

 vigorous orchards or fruit-gardens are desired. 



for shipping across the Atlantic. In this case they should be packed only in dry 

 moss ; the moisture of the sea air being sufficient to keep the roots in good con- 

 dition, while if packed in damp moss they will be injured by rotting or excessive 

 growth. 



