APPENDIX. 



703 



from the fibre tliat has been well ripened, than from that lifted before I'ipened. It 

 can only be when the distance of removal is very short, and the plants very small, 

 and lifted with the earth adhering to the roots, that the transplanting of deciduous 

 plants in autumn, before ripe, can be attended with any advantage. In the 

 nurseries, we have great experience of lifting and shoughing immense quantities of 

 deciduous plants, and experience must say on this head, that any process of growth 

 which may be going on in the interior of the plant during whiter has very little if any 

 outward appearance. Unless the winter is more than ordinarily mild, the spongioles 

 are never seen to protrude, nor the buds to swell, till the spring begins to advance. 

 Such as gooseberries, cherries, thorns, bu'ch, larch, &c., may begin in February 

 or March ; beech, oaks, apples, &c., are later, and seldom begin to show much 

 before April or May. Even the mezereon, which often flowers in February, is 

 seldom found to protrude new roots befoi-e that period. Of course the period will 

 vary as to localities ; some soils and situations are more than a month earlier than 

 others, within very shoi-t distances. Autumn planting is preferable where the soil 

 is dry, as it washes the soil closer to the root ; where the soil is clayey, and the 

 weather soft at planting time, it gets into a state of puddle and rots the roots in 

 winter ; and, unless the weather is dry at planting time in autumn, such soils had 

 better be deferred till spring. Quarters of young trees planted in autumn will 

 stand all winter without the appearance of failure ; and yet, when the spring 

 drought sets in, will fail nearly as much as spring-planted ones, showing that very 

 little has been done by the plant towards establishing itself in the ground during 

 winter. (Autumn is considered decidedly best in the climate of London.) 



717, in P' 321. — According to a table made out by Mr. Robert Thompson, and 

 published in Lindley's Theory of Horticulture, the atmospheric moisture for the 

 different months of the year 1831, is as under: — 





a d 









WIN 



D. 









6 1 



§ 3 





% S 



North 



N. East_ 



East. 



S. East, 



South 



S. West. 





N. West. 



a; to 



January 



31-6 



882 



893 



989 



1000 



982 



1000 



983 



1000 



966 



February . 



39-0 



815 



657 



992 



1000 



963 



874 



804 



1000 



888 



March . . 



39-0 



815 



688 



752 



1000 



913 



846 



846 



1000 



857 



April . . 



53-2 



747 



778 



870 



775 



711 



846 



752 



902 



797 



May . . . 



60-0 



718 



687 



574 



767 



798 



1000 



752 



651 



743 



June 



57-5 



721 



572 



574 



767 



798 



664 



707 



673 



684 



July . . . 



57-5 



721 



703 



662 



767 



798 



750 



684 



599 



710 



August . . 



64-8 



773 



836 



690 



767 



776 



724 



666 



826 



757 



September . 



566 



907 



1000 



723 



767 



813 



853 



761 



905 



841 



October 



56-6 



907 



1000 



1000 



904 



885 



862 



939 



905 



925 



November . 



56-6 



907 



1000 



1000 



1000 



980 



938 



940 



938 



962 



December . 



39-0 



971 



920 



1000 



1000 



980 



939 



986 



1000 



974 



N. 



724 in p. 325. — In order to make sure that the lowest extremity, or root, of the 

 plant should be most pressed, as you very judiciously request, (technically, it is 

 called in the nurseries fastened,) it is necessary that the point of the dibber should 

 be so introduced into the ground, as that it will be nearer the plant at the root than 

 at the surface, the line of its direction inclining at a slight angle towards the plant. 

 When the line of direction of the dibber points from the plant, they are fastened 

 only at the surface, and the roots are not at all fixed in the soil. This is a very 

 material matter to attend to, where much dibbing is practised. It is easier for the 

 operators to push the dibber from the plant, and they require to be watched. The 

 ik z z 2 



