S26 SIR HENRY STEUART'S METHOD 



the centre. This process is gone through by divid- 

 ing the workmen into parties of three and three as 

 formerly. One man in each divides and separates 

 the roots, another assists in the laying and distri- 

 bution, and the third throws on mould as the others 

 require it. The " handlers,'" that is, those engag- 

 ed in distributing, lay the roots in their order, high- 

 er or lower, as they proceed from the nucleus, 

 stretching them out to their full length, to admit of 

 which, the pit must, if necessary, be enlarged in dia- 

 meter. They should be evenly spread, without 

 crowding or confusion, giving all of them competent 

 space in which to extend, and free scope to search 

 for food. 



To accomplish these objects, " the first thing that 

 the principal handler has to do, is to seize with one 

 hand a parcel of the roots, and to divide them with 

 the other hand into as many tiers as can conve- 

 niently be laid in the depth of the pit, allowing the 

 strata of earth between the tiers to be about an inch 

 and a half in thickness. He then, in conjunction 

 with his assistant, extends the larger roots of the 

 first tier to wide distances, stretching out all the 

 minor ramifications and rootlets intermediately in 

 the position in which they should lie, so that no one 

 should, if possible, touch another. The handlers 



