1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
87 
of a barn; or hay or straw enough to cover them with¬ 
out using a rick. 
I have had much experience in the transplanting of 
trees of all sorts, particularly evergreens—60 or 70 
each winter for several years, and have been very suc¬ 
cessful, and if it will not make my article too long, I 
propose to give the details of my method for the bene¬ 
fit of your readers. It is the same as that first men¬ 
tioned, except that I plant the trees as soon as moved. 
The chief labor and difficulty consists in placing a hea¬ 
vy ball of earth, weighing from 1 to 6 tons, upon the 
sled (or rather stone boat, for I find that far prefera¬ 
ble,) and once there, I do not want to remove it, ex¬ 
cept to be placed in the hole where it is to remain per¬ 
manently. To be able to do this, cover the ground six 
inches deep with stable manure and litter in a circle 8 
or 10 feet in diameter, on the spot where the tree is to 
be set. There will then be no difficulty in digging the 
hole when necessary, for the manure will have kept, out 
all the frost, and you will have fresh, dry and warm 
mould to place about the tree for the young fibres to 
run into. If the soil be not good, another spot (beside 
an old stone fence, or on the turning of a field,) should 
be kept free from frost to dig good earth from. The 
best mould that can be had should be used for this pur¬ 
pose—it makes an immense difference in the subsequent 
vigor of the tree. After the tree is planted, and the 
hole nearly filled up, the manure may be spread on the 
top, and that again covered with earth. It retains the 
moisture and nourishes the young fibres the next sum¬ 
mer without injuring them. Where a heavy fall of 
snow occurs early in the season, followed by a few 
nights of cold weather, then go to work at once to 
transplant, and half the labor is saved. The trees may 
be dug round, (for the snow will have prevented the 
frost from penetrating deeper than can easily be broken 
through by a pick-axe,) allowed to freeze one or two. 
nights—and the less frozen the better, if they are only 
hard enough to bear the rough usage they must get— 
and then be set out at once. 
I have transplanted trees of all kinds with stems 
from the size of my arm to twenty inches in diameter 
at the butt, and from fifteen to thirty feet high. Ever¬ 
greens—at least, white pine, red cedar and hemlock, 
for my experience extends no farther—are the easiest 
trees to transplant, as they require little or no watering 
the next summer. Next in order, come the various 
kinds of elm, maple and poplar. Birch, chestnut and 
locust are more difficult. I have lost one out of three. 
Oak, hickory and beech, may as'well be left undisturbed 
in the woods, unless taken small—say, the size of a 
man’s arm and under. All these require watering co¬ 
piously during the dry weather of the next summer, 
and some water the summer after. 
I do not raise the ball with levers from the hole, but 
having broken it entirely loose at the base with levers, 
crowbars, See., I hitch the oxen, by a long rope, to the 
stem of the tree above the branches—protecting the 
tree from being hacked by the rope—and then turn it 
down on its side. An inclined plane having been cut 
on one side of the hole, the stone boat is run under the 
ball, now lying on its side in the hole; the tree is up- 
righted, bringing the ball into the stone boat, the oxen 
are hitched to the boat, from one to three and even four 
yoke being sometimes necessary, and the tree is carried 
off standing upright. At the side of the hole where it 
is to be planted, it is again turned over and rolled or 
“cut” into its place: be careful to see that it stands 
perfectly straight and presenting the best side to the 
point from which most seen. 
Should this communication prove acceptable, I will 
send you, another time, a much easier method of trans¬ 
planting large trees from swampy ground, without 
freezing the balls of earth. A Book Farmer. 
Apple Trees from Cuttings. 
Ers. Cultivator —In your publication of October 
last, there is a short article headed “ Horticultural 
Humbugs,” and the first you mention is, that “ the in¬ 
sertion of apple grafts in a potato before planting in 
the earth, insures the growth.” That apple grafts will, 
not grow like the cuttings of gooseberries and currants, 
whether planted in a potato or any way else, I believe 
to be a general truth, but perhaps not absolutely so. 
Some particular kind of tree, under particular circum¬ 
stances, may have succeeded by planting the graft in a 
potato, which may have given rise to the statement at 
first. 
Your article brought fresh to my recollection, a fact 
which came under my own observation, and which I 
shall now relate. I spent the fore part of my younger 
years in the west of Ireland; while there, I was told 
that there was a certain kind of apple tree which could 
be propagated by planting cuttings in the ground the 
same as the gooseberry; there were small knobs on the 
branches; and when twigs were cut off below one of 
these bulbs, and planted in the ground, roots struck out 
from said knobs, and trees were produced, same as the 
parent'stock. Having my doubts on the subject, I re¬ 
solved to put it to the test. I procured a suitable twig 
and planted it in my garden, and no doubt it did start, 
and grew well, but that is not all. The said twig hap¬ 
pened to have a fruit bud upon it, which not only blos¬ 
somed out, but a full sized apple was matured to per¬ 
fection on it that same season. Now had I not seen 
this with my own eyes, and done it with my own hands, 
it is more than probable I would have been as skeptical 
as you on the subject, and concluded the whole a hum¬ 
bug also. 
What became of the young tree, I cannot tell. I ve 
ry soon afterward left the place, and forgot all about it. 
It may be a good bearing tree to the present day. 
The fruit, as far as I recollect, was good, and worth 
propagating, and now, since the matter has been 
brought to my recollection, I intend to write over for a 
few grafts from some of these trees, and if I succeed 
in obtaining them, and live to see the result, you shall 
be duly informed. Wm. Freeland. Brockville , C . 
W.. Jan., 1849. 
Large Tear Tree. 
Eds. Cultivator —While on a recent tour along 
the valley of the Susquehannah, my attention was call¬ 
ed to a pear tree standing on the bank of the river, 
near the upper line of the Sheshequin fiats, in Brad¬ 
ford Co., Pa., on the farm of George Northrup. I was 
informed that one of the oldest settlers of that region, 
while accompanying Gen. Sullivan, on his expedition 
against the Six Nations, in 1779, found this tree sur¬ 
rounded by an orchard of some three acres. Orders 
were given to cut it down—but he begged for the pre¬ 
servation of this pear tree, and it was spared, it being 
the only fruit tree saved. I am told that it then mea¬ 
sured, 2i feet from the ground, 15 feet in circumference. 
In growing, it had formed a crotch five feet from the 
ground; one part has split off and decayed. 
° About one-third of the tree is still standing, and alive, 
but quite rotten on the inside. It now measures four 
feet in diameter, (that is, by measuring across the inside 
of the slab which still remains,) and 9| feet in circum¬ 
ference, and bore, last season, two bushels of fruit. 
The inside of the part standing is quite dead—only the 
bark, a thin shell of the body, and a few limbs, show 
any symptom of life. E. C. Irost. Seneca Lake 
Highland Nurseries, Catharine, N. Y., Jan. 1849. 
Keep cattle off the fields, when the ground is so N soft 
that they will poach it with their feet. 
