130 THE CULTIVATOR. 
come established in their position, so that there is far less prospect 
of injur} r from the severities of winter. It is a matter of little con¬ 
sequence, however, at which of these seasons the hardy kinds are 
removed. 
Plants, when taken from the earth to be transferred, should be re¬ 
moved with much care. Should any injury be sustained by loss or 
a mutilation of a part of the roots, the whole body of the plant, to¬ 
gether with the root, may be immersed in fresh water during a pe¬ 
riod of twenty or thirty hours, previous to setting it in the earth 
again. 
The top is to be lessened in proportion to the loss the roots may 
have sustained. Otherwise the plant will perish from a loss of its 
wonted nourishment. The ordinary quantity of root being dimin¬ 
ished, the exhaustion from evaporation will be greater than the ab¬ 
sorption of the remaining portion of root, so that the plant will die 
by transpiration. 
October and November, after the first frosts have arrested the 
progress of vegetation in woody perennials, is recommended as a 
proper season for transplanting them. Some are of the opinion, that 
the peach, plum, cherry, and most evergreens, succeed best when 
transplanted in spring. 
Any trees, even the most delicate, may be successfully trans¬ 
planted in autumn, if a little protection be afforded them by co¬ 
vering the root during the first and most trying winter. Where 
complete success is hoped, it is best to shift their locality in the fall, 
if possible. 
The protection of most trees, shrubs and woody plants, may con¬ 
sist in spreading a few inches of litter from the stable around the 
trunk and over the roots. 
Moss from the meadow and evergreen boughs are highly recom¬ 
mended for the protection of delicate plants. They are not liable to 
undergo decomposition during the winter, and thereby injure and 
destroy what they were designed to protect. 
Delicate plants are sometimes supposed to be destroyed by too 
much protection after being transplanted, when, in fact, they 
perish for want of it, being lulled by the alternate freezing and 
thawing of the earth at its surface. This difficulty might have been 
easily obviated by covering them with evergreen boughs or meadow 
moss. 
When trees or shrubs are transplanted in autumn, the earth be¬ 
comes consolidated at their roots, so that the radical fibres soon take 
firm footing in the earth, and the plant is prepared to vegetate with 
the earliest advances of spring. 
The excavation of the earth for the reception of the roots of trees 
and shrubs should bear some proportion to their size. They may ge¬ 
nerally be made from four to six feet in diameter, and of about eigh¬ 
teen or twenty inches in depth. Large trees will require a larger 
opening than this, and small ones not so large. 
The yellow or subsoil where they are to be located may be thrown 
out, and replaced at bottom with a fine mould, intermixed with a 
portion of good manure. 
Trees transplanted should stand two or three inches deeper in the 
earth than they stood previous to their removal. In no cases should 
the extra depth exceed this. 
The radical fibres are to be spread horizontally in their natural 
position, and the soil intimately blended with them and compactly 
pressed about the trunk and over the roots. 
No manure should be permitted to come in immediate contact 
with the roots, though it should be plentifully placed about them on 
all sides. Should it touch them, they will be likely to sustain injury 
and rot. 
The ground, before being trodden very hard about the roots, is to 
be plentifully moistened by pouring water about the plant. 
In transplanting evergreens, it is generally recommended, previ¬ 
ous to treading the earth about their roots, to pour several gallons 
of water about the trunk, and, after filling in with earth, to finish by 
treading it as hard as possible for the space of half an hour or more. 
This would be a good rule to follow in regard to all trees of what¬ 
ever kind. 
June has been considered by many as the best, month for trans¬ 
planting annuals that are cultivated as Florists’ Flowers, and Sep¬ 
tember most suitable for transplanting biennials. 
In transplanting plants of every description, it is desirable that 
as much earth as possible be removed with the roots. If this be 
done, there will be less danger of their suffering by the change of 
situation. 
Though moist, cloudy weather is generally best for transplant¬ 
ing, it should not be done when the ground is very wet. The 
earth should be only moderately moist, otherwise it will be clammy 
and heavy. 
The operation of transplanting is most successfully performed in 
cloudy days, and a little before evening previous to a shower. The 
reasons for this are obvious. If it be done when the earth is dry 
and in the middle of the day, plants require watering and shading 
for a considerable time afterwards. 
If the root be small, or injured, or destitute of earth when taken 
up, it will require that the eartli which is placed about it be made 
finer, and pressed more firmly, and that the plant be more plentiful¬ 
ly watered. It will also require to be longer shaded. 
Plants, transferred to pots and boxes, after having the soil press¬ 
ed firmly about them on all sides, should also be plentifully watered 
and for some time shaded. Care is to be taken that the shell be 
placed over the aperture at the bottom of the vessel, otherwise the 
plant will perish through a superabundance of moisture Satura¬ 
tion of the earth, without an outlet at the bottom, will rot the root 
and destroy the plant.— Florist’s Manual. 
BLUE COLOURING MATTER FROM STRAW OR BUCKWHEAT. 
We intended to have mentioned this subject earlier in the season, 
in order that some of our readers who had buckwheat upon their 
premises might try the experiment and ascertain more satisfactorily 
the facts of the case. But we will bring it forward now ; perhaps 
it may be recollected in its proper season. The method which has 
been recommended for preparing the colouring matter from this plant 
is the following :—Cut the stems before the grain is fully ripe, and 
spread them upon the ground exposed to the sun and leave them 
thus exposed until the seeds drop off with ease. When the grain is 
separated from the stems, they are thrown into heaps, moistened 
with water, and left to ferment to such a degree, that decomposition 
takes place, and a blue colour is developed. It is then formed into 
balls or flat cakes which are dried in the sun or by a stove, after 
which, if the balls be boiled in water, they impart an intensely blue 
colour which is not affected by vinegar or oil of vitriol. It may be 
converted into red by adding an alkali, as potash or soda ; with nut- 
galls it strikes a blacker colour, and a very fine green is afforded by 
evaporation. It is said that stuff’s dyed blue by this preparation re¬ 
tain their colours well, and appear very handsome. 
We have never prepared any colouring matter from this plant, nor 
can we vouch for the truth of the above statement, but certainly we 
think it worth a trial. —Farmer and Gardener. 
RIPE BREAD. 
Bread made of wheat flour when taken out of the oven or skillet, 
is unprepared for the stomach. It should go through a change, or 
ripen before it is eaten. Young persons, or persons in the enjoy¬ 
ment of vigorous health, may eat bread immediately after being bak¬ 
ed without any sensible injury from it, but weakly and aged persons 
cannot, and none can eat such without doing harm to the digestive 
organs. Bread after being baked goes through a change similar to 
the change in newly brewed beer, or newly churned buttermilk, nei¬ 
ther being healthy until after the change. During the change in 
bread, it sends off' a large portion of carbon, or unhealthy gas, and 
imbibes a large portion of healthy, or oxygen gas. Bread has, ac¬ 
cording to the computation of the physicians in London, one-fifth 
more nutriment in it when ripe, than it has when just out of the 
oven. It not only has more nutriment but imparts a much greater 
degree of cheerfulness. He that eats old bread will have more ani¬ 
mal spirits than he would were he to eat unripe bread. 
Bread, as before observed, discharges carbon and imbibes oxygen 
One thing in connection with this thought should be particularly no¬ 
ticed by all housewives. It is, to let the bread ripen where it can 
inhale the oxygen in a pure state. Bread will always taste of air 
that surrounds it while ripening—hence it should ripen where the 
air is pure. It should never ripen in a cellar, nor in a close cup¬ 
board, nor in a bed room—the noxious vapors of a cellar or a cup¬ 
board never should enter into and form a part of the bread we eat. 
The writer of this article has often eaten bread of this kind, and has 
felt strongly disposed to lecture the mistress of the house on the sub¬ 
ject of keeping bread in a pure atmosphere. Every man and wo¬ 
man ought to know that much of health and comfort depends upon 
the method of preparing their food. Bread should be light, well- 
baked, and properly ripened, before it should be eaten,— N. Eng. 
Farmer. 
