47S 
PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
nearly all be degenerated, as we thoughtlessly 
call it, meaning, however, they will have 
gone back nearly to their original state. It 
would seem as if it were designed for an im- 
portant lesson. Assiduity, skill, and perse- 
verance, are rewarded by the accomplishment 
of great objects. After they have been ac- 
complished for the benefit of all who desire 
to enjoy them, they are preserved to the care- 
ful, and lost to the idle man. Nobody can 
look with indifference on these things ; they 
may he idle, carele-s, vicious, and not look at 
all ; but if they do look, they must see in them 
the language of a monitor. No matter to what 
flower we turn, wherever there has been at- 
tained the greatest alteration from nature, 
there will be found the necessity of exercising 
the greatest vigilance. The finest pansy, 
pink, carnation, picotee, tulip, auricula, ra- 
nunculus, polyanthus, anything greatly im- 
proved by culture, may be placed side by side, 
and left a season or two, and nobody would 
know them again ; and supposing there were 
none but them to show what had been done, it 
would take many years to recover the loss and 
retrograde movement of two neglected seasons. 
An Abstract of Keports, Papers, and 
Proceedings of the Horticultural 
Society of London, with Notes bi a 
Practical Gardener. 
Transplanting- large Forest Trees in 
Parks. — This is a country abounding with 
stone, and as my quarries, out of which I was 
building a new mansion, afforded much refuse 
stone in large lumps, I made a trial by plant- 
ing some trees of about eight feet high, and 
placing at their feet two two-horse cart loads of 
rough lumps of stone, not built up high, but, 
packed close by each other, and set on edge 
so as to make a tabular, but very rugged sur- 
face round the foot of the tree, and extended 
to the distance of four feet. These trees 
succeeded well, and far beyond my ex- 
pectation. On considering the cause of their 
success, it appeared to me that the stones 
served the three purposes of fencing, staking, 
and mulching : the first of which is always 
necessary, to defend them from the assaults 
of cattle : the second is equally so, if the 
plants are tall, to save them from being dis- 
placed by winds after they shall have taken 
fresh root : and the third, also, is necessary 
in case of a dry summer, the first after the 
transplantation of the trees, to protect the 
soil from over drought, whilst they are strik- 
ing fresh root into it. The stones placed as 
I have described are a sufficient fence against 
horned cattle, which, having feet made for 
going upon soft ground, will not mount the 
rugged surface of the stones. Sheep and 
deer will scarcely annoy trees whose bark has 
acquired roughness ; but they may be easily 
repelled by a few thorns bound round the 
lower part of the stems. Nor will common 
horses go upon the stones, or endeavour to 
reach the trees and tear off the bark. But 
against high bred horses, which are disposed 
to attack everything of w r ood, the stones are 
not a sufficient fence, unless they are packed 
with a surface very rugged, and extended six 
feet round the tree. Against displacement 
by winds, the stones are a better security 
than can be provided by any manner of 
staking and binding ; for they are a power 
always in action by their weight, and the 
surface of the soil is shaded by them from 
the too great power of the sun, whilst the 
rains sink through and encourage the roots 
to sprout afresh and extend themselves 
through the soil : thus they serve the purpose 
of mulching. The weight of the stones, as 
a security against displacement by winds, 
excels any staking, because it is constantly in 
action : once sufficient, is always so : but the 
bandage with Avhich the tree is secured by 
staking often decays and becomes loosened, 
and the tree is displaced before the failure of 
the bandage is discovered and repaired. Be- 
sides, I have observed, upon taking up some 
young trees, which upon a former transplanta- 
tion in the nursery had been staked, that 
the part of the stakes sunk in the ground had, 
in their course of decay, produced a mouldi- 
ness in the soil about them, and the trees had 
refused to strike fresh roots in that direction ; 
or, if they had struck any, the mouldiness in 
the soil had caused them to decay. The best 
trees to plant out are certainly those whose 
roots and heads have been properly trained 
by pruning and cultivation, in a nursery : 
such may be planted out at greater ages and 
sizes than trees taken from plantations of a 
few years growth, and will both strike fresh 
root more certainly, and grow faster. Au- 
tumn, immediately that the leaf is fallen, is 
the best season for the work ; and, by careful 
practice, according to the method above de- 
scribed, I have had perfect success in trans- 
planting trees of from eight to twenty feet high. 
— Letter by Sir C. 31. L. Monch, Bart. 
[There can be no doubt that the pressure 
of the even weight of mould and stone all 
over the roots is better than stakes would be ; 
but unless stones be handy to the premises it 
would be expensive, and the stakes must be 
resorted to.] 
Horticultural hint. — Experiments have 
been made, which proved that both walnut 
and mulberry trees may be readily made to 
produce fruit at three years old from cuttings; 
and there appears every reason to believe 
that the same mode of culture would be equally 
successful in similar cases. 
