PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 121 



branches are preserved from injury by tbe trunks being 

 kept erect. 



Wlien the tree is placed in its new site^ it is most im- 

 portant that it should be properly and securely fixed. 

 To accomplish this object^ the earth should be rammed 

 in firmly below the ball, so as to give the root a solid 

 seat, and to prevent the roots from moving when the 

 upper part of the tree is acted on by the wind. The 

 roots and fibres should then be careftilly laid out and 

 covered with fresh loam or enriched soil. When the 

 earth is made up nearly to the natural level of the 

 ground, three strong wooden pins six or eight inches in 

 diameter should be driven down to the same level, near 

 the outside of the hole, and forming a triangle with the 

 tree in the centre. To these pins are to be nailed three 

 strong slabs of wood, completing the sides of the triangle, 

 and laying fast hold on the ball or principal roots of the 

 tree. The operation is then finished by filling up and 

 beating in the earth to the level of the surface. Trees 

 so planted will resist almost any amount of wind, and 

 be free from the unsightly appliances of stakes, props, 

 ropes, and heaps of stones often placed round them to 

 maintain their upright position. 



Planting and Transplanting of Evergreens. — The dis- 

 tribution of evergreen trees and shrubs is among the 

 most interesting operations in the formation and im- 

 provement of ijleasure-grounds : in the first, they give 

 at once a clothed appearance to what was bare ground ; 

 and in the second, by their change of position thev 

 effect an almost entfre alteration in the scenery of the 

 place. Success, however, requires not only careful exe- 

 cution, but also due attention to the proper seasons for 

 the performance of the work. 



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