THE planter's GUIDE. 



217 



inflections, to the breadth of six or seven inches, or as far 

 as far as their fingers can reach, the coverer immediately 

 fixes them down, and secures that space with a Httle fine 

 mould, thrown upon it the reverse way — that is, in the 

 direction of the points of the fibres ; which mould is 

 immediately spread and worked in, by the hands of the 

 workmen or handlers, in such a manner as that neither 

 the mould can displace the minutest fibres nor exceed the 

 thickness of a proper stratum : after which they go 

 through the same process with the next tier, and so on 

 with the others, till they exhaust the parcel of roots with 

 which they began. 



It sometimes happens that masses of roots occur, not 

 far from the collar, branching out into small and numerous 

 stems of no great length, which it is much more trouble- 

 some to deal with. With these the only way is to divide 

 them into tiers, and work them in the vertical instead of 

 the horizontal position. A quantity of the finest and most 

 friable mould must be shaken in among the shortest and 

 least extricable fibres of these masses, so that the whole 

 may have an opportunity of absorbing nourishment from 

 the soil. If the pit be upon uneven ground, and still 

 more if on a steep bank, as sometimes happens, it presents 

 considerable difficulty to inexperienced planters. In this 

 case, especial care must be had to lay the roots in a direc- 

 tion corresponding to the slope, level in no part, but 

 rising from the centre on the one side and falling from it 

 on the other. Hence, when the last tier on each side is 

 finished, it has from six to eight inches of cover over it, at 

 the general level of the ground. This, on the side of a 

 hill of any steepness, it requires considerable skill to 

 accomplish, so that the main body of the roots be brought 

 within an equal distance from the surface, and receive 

 proper benefit from the sun and air. In the manner just 



