OF TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES- 301 



Girth and strength of stem are obviously necessa- 

 ry for such trees as have to stand in open sites, in 

 order that they may be enabled to resist the force 

 of the wind. This, which may be deduced from 

 mechanical principles alone, is amply confirmed by 

 observation, a tree which has been exposed from the 

 first being always much thicker in proportion to 

 its height, than another of the same kind protected 

 from its infancy by the shelter of surrounding ob- 

 jects. 



Numerousness of roots and fibres is a property 

 absolutely necessary, whatever be the nature of the 

 exposure into which a large tree may be removed. 

 Roots serve two purposes to vegetables, — they give 

 them stability, and, what is of still greater import- 

 ance, they supply the nourishment from the earth, 

 without which no vegetation can take place. It 

 is, indeed, highly necessary for the transplantation 

 even of the youngest trees, that they should have 

 good roots ; and the necessity must be still greater 

 in aged ones; the removal of which, under the 

 most favourable circumstances, implies no inconsi- 

 derable degree of violence. 



The fourth qualification required is extent, ba- 

 lance and closeness of branches. The principal mo- 



