320 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[February 20. 
tree. Here it may be asked—Why not begin witli a two 
feet deep trench at once? but the answer belongs to 
another part of the story, and we shall hear it after 
awhile. Now the tree is to be tunnelled under, working 
carefully with the fork only to bare the roots, the loose 
earth to be removed by the spade. Any of the roots that 
j are deeper than two feet, are soon found, but not, if pos¬ 
sible, until the tunnel is forced two feet beyond the tree. 
In loose soil, this is more necessary, as, if the roots are 
cut sooner, the upper part, or roof, of the tunnel is liable 
to fall in. Suppose now that one large tap-root is found 
going down in a perpendicular direction, and several 
smaller ones not far from it; direct the man to pick the 
roof of the tunnel very carefully with the fork—still 
leaving the roots uncut—and the nearer he can get up 
to the bottom of the tree, without hurting small fibrous 
roots, the better; if he gets to within a loot or a little 
more of the surface, it will suffice; then, with a small 
saw, let him saw off the tap-roots as high as the roof of 
his tunnel will allow; let him also cut off the bottom 
parts as low as he can, because opening this tunnel will 
be the first part of getting up the plant next July or 
next July twelvemonths. The roots being thus cut 
and smoothed at the cut ends with a knife, fill in the 
tunnel again, trench and all, and the work is finished 
nearly in as short a time as it takes to write about it. 
The next plant, let us suppose, is on the side of a hill 
or bank, or say some uneven ground, and always, when 
that happens, begin the trench on the upper side, be¬ 
cause the roof or sides of the opening are very apt to slip 
in if the lower side is opened for getting at the bottom 
roots. When the time comes round to remove a plant 
thus prepared, the same trench is opened nearly in the 
same way as before, only the end farthest from the tree 
will have to be made into an easy slope, as it is in¬ 
tended for the ball to be drawn away along this slope, and 
the plant being on uneven ground, the lower side must 
be opened first, as it is easier to pull down the hill than 
the contrary way. When the opening is clear under 
the tree and a couple of feet beyond it, a similar opening 
is made on the opposite side ; and now a four feet wide 
passage is free right under the tree, and, unless the soil 
is very light indeed, the surface-roots will hold up the 
soil over the passage; but our soil here does not do 
that in some cases, so that we are obliged to support 
the roof by a thick plank let in, and supported at each 
end, until the whole passage is cleared out. Our plant- 
ing, or, rather, our carrying truck, is of the simplest 
form—four feet long, and nearly as wide, running upon 
two rollers, with a strong iron ring at each corner, so 
tliat it may be drawn by either end, backwards or for¬ 
wards, as easily as a railway truck; it stands about a 
foot high, with only a flat top. When the passage 
under the tree is ready for this truck to enter, two 
garden planks are set down first, and the rollers set on 
them, and pushed along till the centre of the tree or 
ball is just over the centre of the truck; then the sur¬ 
face-roots are disengaged in the usual way, by opening 
a trench at a certain distance from the stem, and forking 
away the soil gradually; and if the small roots are very 
numerous, they are tied in bundles for more security ; 
and in a short time a ball, five or six feet in diameter, 
! is formed, and resting on a truck ready to be dragged 
; where you please. But I forgot to say, that when the 
truck was first put in, the planks under it were raised 
up first at one end, and then at the other end, and some 
of the loose earth packed under them, so that the truck 
is pressed up tight against the roof of the passage, thus 
i bringing my words true, that no strain is put on either 
roots, branches, or arms, in getting the largest free in 
England on a truck, so as to be ready for locomotion. 
Last autumn, we removed a great number of large trees 
aud shrubs,—some of them the most ticklish kinds to 
move; the balls were from two to four tons in weight; aud 
for the latter, owing to the nature of the grounds, we 
had to use five horses one after the other. The pits for 
these plants are made according to the thickness of the 
balls. The farthest off side of the pit is sloped, to entice 
the first horse to step down into the pit; but the side 
where the plant is to enter, is left perpendicular; and 
when thelasthorse is in the pit, a couple of short and very 
stout pieces of plank are let into the side of the pit for 
the truck to roll over them, their other ends reaching to 
the middle of the pit. The horses now are encouraged 
to pull very steadily indeed; we have two old horses who 
understand this part of the business so well, that we 
never make a miss. The grand point is to get the 
truck to slip down into the pit as easily as possible. | 
When one end of the truck is set fast in the bottom of ! 
the pit, and the other end still on the planks, the horses ' 
are unhooked. D. Beaton. 
(To be continued.J 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
A Group or' Stove Plants that Bloom Freely in ; 
Winter and Spring in a Warm Greenhouse.— Last 
season I mentioned a number of these, with a short 
outline of their treatment; and now, in the first place, I 
will make a few notes on some of those formerly men¬ 
tioned ; aud, secondly, allude to a few others that are 
well fitted for a similar purpose, provided the tempera- 1 
ture in winter is seldom below 45°, and there is an 
opportunity of giving the plants, at certain seasons, a 
higher temperature and a moister atmosphere than 
would be suitable for the inmates of the greenhouse 
generally. 
1st. The beautiful blue-flowering Erantliemum pul- 
cliellum was mentioned as suitable for this purpose, and 
so it is in autumns and winters with an average amount 
of sunshine; but this season, owing to the weather 
being so dull, the flowers neither opened so well, nor 
were of so good a colour as usual. Removing them to 
a higher temperature improved their colour. This plant 
succeeds best, therefore, in greenhouses in bright winters, j 
Poinsettia pulcherrima. — The peculiar character of 
the winter has not affected this injuriously; the mild¬ 
ness of the season has been all in its favour Its large 
crimson bracts, forming together an irregular circle 
from ten to fifteen inches in diameter, have been quite 
dazzling for more than three months. It seems to con¬ 
tinue longer in such a house than in a stove, in a tem¬ 
perature from ten to fifteen degrees higher. The only 
drawback is, that the leaves are apt to fall before the 
showy bracts give any signs of decay. The plants were 
raised from cuttings a few inches in length, dried for 
the best part of a week, and then inserted in sandy soil, 
and placed in a little bottom-heat, were shifted and 
grown on in loam and peat, received rougliish treat¬ 
ment during the summer, but towards autumn, were 
plunged in a pit with a very little bottom-heat, and 
fully exposed to the light, where the bracts and flowers 
unfolded by the end of October and the beginning 
of November, since which time they have been re¬ 
moved to the greenhouse. When they can easily be 
procured, cuttings from a foot in length may be used, 
as the stronger and larger the cutting, the sooner will a 
large plant be formed, if properly used. This month 
and the next will be the best time to procure them, 
when they are comparatively in a dormant state. Fail¬ 
ing these, old stems and small side-shoots may be used 
and procured at any time. 
Euphorbia jacquinijiora. —This mild season has been 
peculiarly favourable for this elegant plant also, when 
treated much the same as the above. When done 
