55 



The plants will spring up in April, and in August 

 and September will be of proper age and size to be 

 budded about two inches from the ground. The nur- 

 seryman, therefore, will have the advantage of taking 

 his buds from the trees whilst the fruit is upon them ; 

 and he can, in consequence, easily guard against errors 

 which much too frequently occur, and he may feel 

 quite certain that none of his buds will break prema- 

 turely. Buds may be inserted in the early part of 

 October ; and Mr. Knight introduced some with per- 

 fect success even in November. Late in the autumn 

 he generally shortened the roots, which descend per- 

 pendicularly into the soil, by introducing a spade into 

 the ground on two sides of each plant, but without 

 moving it, or further disturbing its roots. Thus 

 managed the buds shoot very freely, and with proper 

 attention to preserve their fibrous roots, and to pack 

 them properly, they may be sent to the most distant 

 part of the island without danger of their being killed 

 by their removal. Older trees, possibly, cannot be 

 removed without danger of their failing; but Mr. 

 Knight transplanted a peach tree, in the autumn, of 

 ten years old, which was growing upon its own roots, 

 and was more than ten feet high ; and in the follow- 

 ing spring, it emitted its blossoms as freely as those 

 trees which had not been transplanted — its roots, how- 

 ever, were well preserved, and its branches properly 

 retrenched. {Knighfs FajperSy 274.) 



