THE GARDEN PRIMER 



them. The roots are bound to be more or less 

 disturbed. 



Holes for trees should be dug as large as the full 

 spread of the roots, and if there are some roots running 

 out beyond the line of all the others, dig a place for 

 them especially. Put everything into the ground as 

 nearly as possible just as it came out; face it the same 

 way, with the north side to the north — this can be done 

 by marking those things which are being transplanted 

 within the garden — and set it at the same depth it was 

 before — no more, no less. 



Evergreens are in a class quite apart from every- 

 thing else, when it comes to planting or transplant- 

 ing, and the beginner will do better if he lets them alone. 

 They must never have their roots exposed an instant to 

 the air or the wind — hence they have to be handled 

 always with a ball of earth as large as their roots — and 

 this requires some skill and experience. The only 

 time when it can be done at all by an inexperienced 

 person with the slightest chance of success, is in the 

 winter, when the ground is frozen so that it adheres 

 to the roots. Then a specimen may be literally cut 

 out of the ground, and moved into a hole cut to 

 receive it; and it may live — but then again, it may not. 



The chances are against it, for the ball of earth 

 required to take in all the roots of even a small evergreen 

 will weigh so much that the transplanter is likely to 

 skimp it — and thus sacrifice more root growth than the 

 plant can spare. For their roots are more necessary 

 to an evergreen, in a way, than the roots of a deciduous 



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