QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



7 



2754. Transplanting' Large Trees. This and a 

 similar inquiry in a former issue can not be answered 

 in a better and more thorough way than by quoting 

 from an illustrated article which recently appeared in 

 The Rural New-Yorker . In moving large trees, say 

 those ten to twelve inches in diameter and twenty five 

 to thirty feet high, says the writer, Edward Hicks, 

 it is well to prepare them by trimming and cutting or 

 sawing off the roots at a proper distance from the trunks, 

 say six to eight feet, in June. The cut roots heal over 

 and send out fibrous roots, which should not be injured 

 more than is necessary in moving the trees next fall or 

 spring. Young thrifty maples and elms, originally from 

 the nursery, do not need such preparation nearly as 

 much as other and older trees. In moving a tree we 

 begin by digging a wide trench six to eight feet from it, 

 leaving all possible roots fast to it. By digging under 

 the tree in the wide trench, and working the soil out of 

 the roots by;means of round or dull-pointed sticks, the 

 soil falls into the 

 cavity made under 

 the tree. Three or 

 four men in as 

 many hours could 

 get so much of the 

 soil away from the 

 roots that it would 

 be safe to attach 

 a rope and tackle 

 to the upper part 

 of the trunk and 

 to some adjoining 

 post or tree for the 

 purpose of pulling 

 the tree over, 

 good quantity of 

 bagging must be ~Y ^ 

 put around the 

 tree under the rope 

 to prevent injury, 

 and care should be 

 taken that the pul- 

 ling of the rope 

 does not split off 

 or break a limb. A team is hitched to the end of the 

 draft rope, and slowly driven in the proper direc- 

 tion to pull the tree over. If the tree does not readily 

 tip over, digl under and cut ofT any fast root. While 

 it is tipped over, work out more of the soil with the 

 sticks. Now pass a large rope, double, around a few 

 large roots close to the tree, leaving the ends of the 

 rope turned up by the trunk to be used in lifting the 

 tree at the proper time. Tip the tree in the opposite di- 

 rection and put another large rope around the large 

 roots close to the trunk ; remove more-soil and see that 

 no roots are fast to the ground. Four guy-ropes at- 

 tached to the upper parts of the tree, as shown in the cut, 

 should be put on properly and used to prevent the tree 

 from tipping over too far as well as to keep it upright. 

 A good deal of the soil can be put back in the hole with- 

 out covering the roots, to get it out of the way of the 

 machine. The latter can now be placed about the tree 

 by removing the front part, fastened by four bolts. 



RANSTLANTING LARGE TREES. READY TO LiFT. 



placing the frame with the hind wheels around the tree 

 and replacing the front parts. Two timbers, 3x9 inches, 

 and twenty feet long, are now placed on the ground 

 under the hind wheels, and in front of them, parallel to 

 each other, for the purpose of keeping the hind wheels 

 up out of the big hole when drawing the tree away ; and 

 they are also used while backing the hind wheels across 

 tne new hole in which the tree is to be planted. The 

 machine consists of a hind axle twelve feet long and 

 broad-tired wheels. The frame is made of spruce 3x8 

 in. and 20 ft. long. The braces are 3x5 in. and 10 ft. long, 

 and uprights3X9 in. and 3ft. high ; these are bolted to the 

 hind axle and main frame. The front axle has a set of 

 blocks bolted together and of sufficient height to support 

 the front end of the frame. Into the top timbers, 3x6 

 inches, hollows are cut at the proper distances to receive 

 the ends of two locust rollers. A windlass or winch is 

 put at each end of the frame by which trees can easily and 

 steadily be lifted and lowered, thelarge double ropes 

 passing over the 

 rollers tothe wind- 

 asses. A locust 

 boom is put across 

 the machine unde*" 

 the frame and 

 above the braces ; 

 iron pins hold it in 

 place. The side 

 guyropes are 

 made fast to the 

 ends of this boom. 

 The other guy- 

 ropes are made 

 fast to the front 

 and rear parts of 

 the machine. Four 

 rope loops are 

 made fast inside o' 

 the frame and are 

 so placed that by 

 passing a rope 

 around the trunk 

 of the tree and 

 through the loops 



two or three times, a rope ring is made around the tree 

 that will keep the turnk in the middle of the frame and 

 not allow it to hit either the edges or the rollers — a 

 very necessary safeguard. As the tree is slowly lift- 

 ed by the windlasses, the guy-ropes are loosened, 

 as needed. The tree will pass obstructions, such 

 as trees by the roadside, but in doing so it is better to 

 lean the tree backward. When the tree has arrived at 

 its new place, the two timbers are placed along the op- 

 posite edges of the hole so that the hind wheels can be 

 backed over it. The tree is then lowered to the 

 proper depth, and made plumb by the guy-ropes, and 

 good mellow soil is thrown in and packed well into all 

 the cavities under the roots. When the hole is half 

 filled several barrels of water should be poured in ; this 

 will wash the soil into the cavities under the center of 

 the tree much better. When the water has settled away, 

 fill in and pack the soil till the hole is little more than 

 full. Leave a depression so that all the rain that may 



