OF TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 303 



a tree, then, when about to be removed, as was 

 formerly the practice, is one of the surest means for 

 its destruction. 



Such being the properties which large trees ought 

 to possess, in order to qualify them for removal, it 

 is plain that large and close plantations are not the 

 places in which the transplanter should look for 

 subjects, whether he intend to plant singly or in 

 groups. We have already seen that the requisite 

 thickness of bark and girth of stem are only to 

 be found in open situations, as shelter is equally 

 unfavourable to both existing in that degree which 

 will enable a tree to be removed into exposure with- 

 out injury. One of the uses of the bark is to ex- 

 clude cold from hurting the sap- vessels ; now, when 

 a tree grows amidst the shelter of other trees, that 

 shelter in proportion to the cold it wards off, or the 

 heat it confines, renders less necessary the protecting 

 power of the bark, which is reduced in thickness 

 and induration accordingly. What renders a 

 close wood unfavourable to due girth of stem is 

 equally plain. All vegetables tend to grow towards 

 the light, and are attracted by it. But when trees 

 grow close together, this agent is in a manner ex- 

 cluded from reaching them sideways. Their ten- 

 dency is accordingly upwards, — their stems are tall 



