560 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



otLer by the distance of three-quarters of an inch or so^, 

 like the staves of a barreL They are next secured tem- 

 porarily by a suitable rope. A man then descends into the 

 hole and fixes the rope by means of the screw apparatus 

 shown in Fig. 307, so as to press the planks firmly against 

 the soil of the ball. The press is then removed aiid the 

 same thing done higher up_, within say four inches of the 

 top, an ordinary cask hoop being first nailed round the 

 planks before the screw is unfixed. The ball being firmly 

 fixed in its proper position, it is hove over so as to get 

 to its underneath part. The bottom of a cask having 

 its boards fastened together with a circular piece of sheet 

 iron rather larger than itself is passed under, the iron being 

 pierced with two or three holes and turned up so that it 



Fig. 307. 



Screw used in preparing specimens for removal, as shown in the 

 preceding Figure. 



may be nailed against the planks. In some cases the stem 

 of the tree should be fixed by iron wire to the sides of the 

 improvised cask. 



When it reaches its destination it is gently inclined to 

 one side and the bottom boards removed. The hoops are 

 next unfastened, the boards removed, and the roots carefully 

 arranged in their natural position, some good earth being 

 spread over them. The amount of success capable of being 

 attained by this method may be seen throughout the squares 

 of Paris, hardly a single tree having been killed during the 

 plantation of the myriads now growing so luxuriantly in 

 that city. Some at Vincennes have died, it is true, but 

 after having been transplanted in the rough and ready way 

 usually resorted to. 



