THE planter's GUIDE. 



29 



of far smaller magnitude. His method with the Oak was, 

 to select a tree of the size of his thigh, which probably 

 might be about twentj-six or twenty-eight inches in girth. 

 Having removed the earth, and cut all the collateral 

 roots, he forced it down upon its side, so as to come at 

 the tap-root, which was immediately cut off. The tree 

 was then raised up ; the mould was returned into the pit, 

 and the tree left standing for a twelvemonth or more, 

 until a fresh growth of roots and fibres enabled him to 

 remove it with advantage. Another method was, after 

 laying bare the roots, and leaving four main ones un- 

 touched, on the four opposite sides, in the form of a cross, 

 for supporting the tree, to cut away only those in the 

 intervals. The mould was then, as before, returned into 

 the pit. After waiting a year or two, when the intervals 

 became completely filled with fresh growths, the four 

 cross roots, and also the tap, were then reduced, and the 

 tree removed, " with as much of the clod about the roots 

 as possible.""' This ingenious process, which in either 

 way saved the tree from decapitation, and consequently 

 from disfigurement, has been deservedly recorded by 

 Evelyn and Wise, and all succeeding writers. 



It must be acknowledged that there was great inge- 

 nuity, and some acquaintance with wood, displayed in 

 these important improvements by Lord Fitzharding. As 

 Grew had by this time written, and the researches by 

 both that writer and Malpighi, respecting the anatomy 

 and physiology of plants, had begun to be known all over 

 Europe, it seems surprising that this ingenious nobleman 

 should have stopped here. By advancing a step further, 

 and applying those interesting doctrines to the art, he 

 might have brought it to a state of certainty and pre- 



* Evelyn's Silva, vol. i. p. 102. Wise's Mystery of Gardening and Planting, 

 pp. 91, 92. Bradley, pp. 89, 108, &c. Diet. Rust, in voce Transplanting, &c. &c. 



