THE PLANTEE'S GUIDE. 



295 



Ergo non hyemes illam, non flabra, uon imbres 

 Convelluut : immota manet, multosque per annos 

 Malta viruiii volvens durando secula vincit : 

 Tvini fortes late ramos et brachia tendens 

 Hue illue, media ipsa ingentem sustinet umbram." * 



In fact, this noble tree is at once so perfectly magni- 

 ficent and so perfectly beautiful, that it may with pro- 

 priety be introduced, by the painter or the designer, into 

 the greatest scenes, or it may be made to adorn the least ; 

 for it will give majesty to the grove, consequence to the 

 lawn, and shade and coolness to the most sequestered 

 retreat. In a word, it is the tree of all others which we 

 should be most ambitious to possess in our parks and 

 pleasure-grounds, and to transplant, if possible, with 

 success. But that is an achievement in which most 

 planters have failed, and in which none, as far as I know, 

 have fully succeeded. 



When I first made the attempt, many years ago, I 

 removed this, as I did many other trees, with very little 

 knowledge of the subject. With the whole of them it 

 appeared that, if they could only be kept alive, with their 

 branches entire, during the first season after transplanta- 

 tion, the chief difficulty was surmounted. The second 

 year was always sure to prove more favourable than the 

 first, until the tree gradually recovered from the severity 

 of the process. JSTot so, however, with the Oak. Although 

 certainly as much, and usually more trouble was taken 

 with it than with any other tree, the result was wholly 

 different. During the first season, the appearance of the 

 leaf was full and promising, and shoots of even one and 

 two inches came out. Yet, in the following spring, the 

 plant usually languished, and died outright before mid- 

 summer was past. In a few instances, it lived throughout 



Georgics, lib, ii. 291. See also Note V. 



