steuart's planter's guide. 237 



der-dig and scrape out the clay all round, nearly a 

 foot inward below the roots, and then to introduce two 

 large ladders at one side as levers to upset the tree, 

 the strong end of the ladders being put into the 

 trench, and as far underneath the roots as to catch 

 hold firmly, the outer side of the trench being the ful- 

 crum on which they rested to obtain a purchase, the 

 light end sloping upward about 14 feet high. Two 

 men were then employed upon each ladder ; one of 

 them pulled down by a rope attached to the top, 

 while the other guided the ladder, and rocked it a 

 little up and down ; and, at the same time, several 

 men hung upon the opposite side of the tree, ei- 

 ther by a rope or the branches, till their united force 

 upset the tree with a large cake of clay bound toge- 

 ther by the roots, five or six feet square, and per- 

 haps fifteen inches thick, standing up like a wall, 

 similar to what occurs when spruce or Scots fir are 

 upset by high mnds, in shallow wet-bottomed soil. 

 We then removed the ladders, sloped the outer side 

 of the trench where they had rested, and pared away 

 the clay from the upset root, till we thought four 

 horses could drag it, one or two men in the mean 

 time sitting in the top to prevent the tree righting. 

 After this we introduced the sledge, pushing it as 

 far back as possible ; if necessary, cutting holes to 



