THE MANUAL OF GARDENING. 
17 
position, and covering the roots with earth until the ground in 
which they are to be permanently planted, is ready to receive 
them. The hole in which it is intended to plant an ordinary 
sized tree from a nursery, should be full three feet in diameter, 
and nearly the same in depth (for shrubs or quite small trees, so 
much space will not, of course, be requisite). The earth from 
the bottom should be cast aside, and the hole filled up again with 
compost or rich garden mould, a little old stable manure, but 
none that may ferment, may be used in the compost, or mixed 
with the garden mould. The tree should be planted one or two 
inches deeper than it previously stood, the roots and fibres being 
spread out horizontally or fan-like, and during the process of filling 
in the earth, shake the tree several different times, so as to admit 
the soil between the fine roots, and fill up cavities which might 
otherwise remain, also gently tramp the soil as the hole is being 
closed, and add a little water when the excavation is filled; 
finish by forming a basin around the trunk twelve or eighteen 
inches in diameter, to receive the rain, or water which it may be 
necessary to give from time to time, should the ensuing warm 
season prove dry. A thick coat of long manure, grass, or litter 
of any kind, placed immediately over the roots to screen them 
from the sun, and prevent rapid evaporation, is more beneficial 
than artificial watering. To prevent the winds from rocking 
the tree, and thus breaking the fibres, it should be secured to a 
stake by bands of straw. 
The season for transplanting trees in the latitude of Philadel- 
phia, is from the middle of October to the first or middle of May, 
as vegetation may be early or late ; as a general rule suited to 
all latitudes, transplanting may safely be done when the sap is 
not in motion, and no impediment exists by reason of the earth 
being too wet or frosty. Evergreens , however, are thought to 
succeed better when planted in the spring ; much nevertheless 
depends upon the nature of the soil ; and, if heavy, the spring is 
generally preferable, as the frost acts with greater force on wet 
land, and sometimes draws the newly planted trees. 
GROWTH OF PLANTS. — Plants absorb their nutriment by 
the roots, this nutriment is then conveyed through the stem into 
the leaves ; there it is subjected to a process by which a large 
proportion of water is discharged, the rest is submitted to the 
action of the atmosphere, and carbonic acid is first generated and 
then decomposed by the action of light; carbon is now fixed 
under the form of a nutritive material, which is conveyed back 
into the system of the plant, for the developement of all parts of 
the structure ; and a proportion of the secreted matter is after- 
wards ejected from the plant. It was Mrs. Marcet, in her Con- 
versations on Vegetable Physiology, who first drew the attention 
2 * 
