586 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



flower pots, the first being that I noticed how a plant in a pot pro- 

 duces its root ; and the second was the progressive increase of moisture 

 noticed in dry soils as one goes down deeper. At the same time I was 

 influenced by the difficulty of taking a plant up out of the seed-bed 

 without hurting its roots or breaking them if they are long. If we 

 shake out a conifer grown in a pot for nine months or a year, we 

 notice that the principal root turns towards the side of the pot, and 

 runs round and round till it reaches the bottom of the pot, when it 

 pushes its way through the hole underneath and enters the ground ; 

 the length of the root made in this manner is sometimes 20, 30, or even 

 40 inches long. If this Dlant, instead of being grown in a pot, had been 

 transferred directly from the seed-bed to the hillside it would have been 

 impossible to transplant it without cutting or partially destroying its 

 root, as, instead of growing round and round as in the pot, it would have 

 grown straight down into the earth. In the case of plants grown 

 in pots it is quite possible to straighten out the root, provided it is done 

 before it begins to form side roots. By this means the long unbroken 

 root of the little tree goes straight down and can draw up the moisture 

 it needs from the subsoil If we suppose fig. 184 to represent a section 

 of the soil, and we divide it into theoretical horizontal layers of 4 by 4 

 inches, we obtain a view of the facts on which the system of planting 

 trees with long roots grown in pots is based. If we observe the position 

 of the two plants in the figure it will be seen that the chances which a 

 little tree, taken out of a pot with a mass of roots ready formed, has of 

 growing are small, as the mass of roots is only 3 to 4 inches deep and could 

 reach no other moisture than that which it finds in the layer of earth 

 of the same depth, and which is precisely the first to dry up in the 

 spring. Or, supposing the tree begins to strike its roots down before 

 the moisture in the second layer of 4 inches immediately below it has 

 evaporated, it still runs the risk of drying up in the first month of 

 summer, entirely checking the young growth if, as is probable, it had 

 not been able to penetrate into the third and fourth layers for moisture, 

 and thus, even ii not actually killed, the young tree's growth is retarded 

 for two or three years. 



On the other hand, if in fig. 184 the position attained by the same 

 tree planted with its root drawn out be examined, it will be noticed 

 that from the very first it is able all through the drought of summer to 

 absorb the moisture of the deeper layers of soil, where a certain amount 

 of dampness is never wanting, as I have said. The probabilities of 

 success in this case are very much greater than in the former. And 

 if we can give one or two waterings during the seven months of summer 

 drought to plantations arranged on this system the losses will 

 be hardly perceptible. After various experiments made I can 

 confidently recommend this system for planting hillsides as long as 

 due care is taken, not only as regards the growth of the root, but also 

 in planting the tree and using well broken-up earth to fill in the hole. 

 The manner of working is as follows : — In a wooden water-trough 

 (about the size seen in fig. 185) you begin by taking out the tree 



