TRANSPLANTING. 



73 



nothing is more pernicious than to have them too 

 close to one another. As the distances between 

 them ought to vary according to the species, and 

 the time they are intended to remain in the nur- 

 sery lines, it would be a fatiguing and an endless task 

 to state these distances in feet and inches. It may, 

 however, be laid down as a general rule, that they 

 should never stand nearer to each other than is con- 

 sistent with the horizontal branches of each plant, 

 when sufficiently pruned, standing clear of those of 

 its neighbour. When this is not the case, a proper 

 supply of air is not admitted, and in consequence 

 the plants are drawn up weak and spoiled 



* Many are of opinion that young trees ought to undergo 

 several transplantations, while they remain in the nursery, in 

 order that they may be the better furnished with roots. That 

 fibres will be multiplied by the repetition of the process, there 

 can be no doubt, though, when all things are considered, it 

 will perhaps appear that this advantage is attended with dis- 

 advantages, which fully counterbalance it. In the first place, 

 nearly a year's growth is lost by each removal ; and, secondly, 

 the repeated checks which the plant thus receives must have 

 very injurious effects on its constitution. Besides, in the soft 

 ground of the nursery, and at the age when young trees are, 

 or ought to be, removed from it, they never fail to be well pro- 

 vided with fibres, independently of art altogether. The repeat- 



