Dkcejiber is. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
201 
consulerable distance from the trunk, and the eartli that 
surrounds wliat is left is squeezed together, by some 
machinery or other, into an almost impenetrable mass. 
A tree tlius removed ?}nn/live, certainly ; and abundance 
of good earth at the place where it is taken to, coupled 
with a favourable season, may help it to grow; but the 
chances are, that it does not grow so much in six years 
as it has done the last one; that is to say, if the tree be 
a large one. Smaller trees sooner recover tlieir dis¬ 
membered roots, and, if all be favourable, they grow on 
apace. 
As a partial remedy to the above, some of the most 
successful planters of the present day dig a ditch or 
trench all around the tree one full year before they 
remove it; some leaving the trench open, others filling 
it with rough leaves, or other litter, and some filling in 
the earth again, contenting themselves with having cut 
the main roots asunder; a check on the growth of the 
tree certainly takes place, and it is in a much better con¬ 
dition to plant the ensuing year. This plan, however, can¬ 
not always be adopted; time and patience being obliged 
to succumb to an anxiety to have the job done ofi’-hand, 
and to work the parties go at once. I might here 
observe, that, in addition to preparing the tree for plant- 
the year beforehand, by cutting its roots all around, 
some shortening, or lessening of the top is also done at the 
I same time; others, instead of digging a trench all around, 
j dig it on two o])posite sides only, but closer to the tree ; 
I and some even go to the length to undermine it, leaving 
I the two sides not cut into to serve the purpose of keep¬ 
ing the tree alive, the cutting, or cropping, as above, 
being likely to check the growth and partially harden 
the tree for its removal. All these modes have been 
tried with more or less success; and the after-care of 
properly planting and securing, aided by a fav'ourable 
season, often enables the tree to surmount the sacrifices 
it has made in the change. 
It is needless here describing the machine by which 
large trees are moved from one place to another; suffice it 
to say, that a very simple one may be formed of stout 
planks made into something like a large door, and two 
or tln-ee wooden rollers underneath, instead of wheels, 
which cut into the ground so much, especially as planting 
must be done when the ground is soft and wet. It is 
easy to construct such an apparatus, and the lowness of 
the rollers often enables it to be run underneath the 
hall of the tree ; or, if not, it might be raised a little with 
triangles in the usual way, there being no difficulty in 
unloading it either; and, being furnished with hooks 
at the corners, horses can be attached wlien wanted. 
It will be easily understood that tlte roller bearings are 
fastened at their ends to frame work supporting the 
floor, or hottom, as above; in fact, the rollers aie in 
place of wlieels, which mark the ground very much 
i when it passes tlu-ough the dressed park. 
! Now, much as has been said on the planting of large 
j trees and shrubs, and the care and trouble given to 
I make them succeed; a much greater success would attend 
I the planting of small things, were sufficient pains taken 
I to plant them ; but the fault, often, is this. Small plants 
I with ordinary care are, in most cases, certain to grow; 
i hence the temptation there is to maltreat them. After 
! being carelessly taken up, and their roots cut or injured 
to a great extent, they often lie about for some time, 
! and when they are planted they are often next to thrust 
I into the ground, notwithstanding wdiich they often grow; 
■ but it can hardly be expected that they will grow so 
j well as those which, having been taken up carefully, 
1 with all their roots uninjured, are planted again in 
j ground well prepared, with their roots spread in all 
directions, in straight lines from the collar, so that 
when they begin to grow their roots may be in a position 
to derive sustenance from an extended area, with the 
prospect of increasing that every year, by abundance of 
I proper soil surrounding the place where the free is 
I planted. With ordinary care this way, and planting 
; fast-growing jilants, it is surprising what progress will 
I be made in a few years ; and the vigorous health of the 
I specimens so treated, contrasts strongly with the back- 
■ ward growth of the large trees subjected to the planting 
j operations, which we so often see exemplified in places 
I where a tolerable share of success has been said to have , 
attended heavy work of that kind. Not but that there , 
are some wortliy exceptions, but the great bulk of large 
trees and shrubs so planted do look badly for two or 
, three years, or more, and some never recover their health 
j again. 
Necessity, or a wish to create “ present efl'ect,” may, 
in some cases, justify the lifting and planting of large : 
' specimens ; and some plants of slow growth cannot, by ' 
' any ordinary means, be brought to grow rapidly; in 
this case, larger trees might Avith advantage be substi¬ 
tuted ; for instance, the Araucaria imbricata is not a ' 
' fast-growing tree, and being one of the most poj)ular 
ornaments of the garden, a more than ordinary amount 
of care ought to be exercised in removing one, if it can 
be had, and there are many things which bear trans¬ 
planting worse than the Pinus tribe; but the Araucaria 
is often a long, strongly-rooted tree, and almost destitute 
of fibrous roots near the collar; when such is the case, | 
be more than ordinarily careful to save those that aio | 
near home, and in planting, train out the long roots to , 
their fullest extent, and a good proportion of them to j 
I the windward side, or, in other words, in the direction j 
from which the highest winds blow. 'I’lie south-west . 
wind is commonly the strongest in many parts of 
I'ln gland. 
In general, most everyreeu shrubs, and many riiinses, 
• like a dry, stony, or gravelly soil, with a good deptii of 
soil resting on a substratinn not unfertile ; in fact, not a i 
hungry, pernicious gravel; but some of the Piuuscs, | 
especially the Picca, like a moister soil; and even the 1 
Araucaria likes a deep, cool, friable loam, rather than a 
dry, sandy, or gravelly soil; while, on tlio other hand, 
IlolVu's are I'oinidon all soils, but attain tlio greatest size 
: on rather still', hazelly loam ; at the same time, they are 
j found in great abundance iu some woods of a peaty 
character. Scotch Firs are often found wild in such situa¬ 
tions also; while dry, chalky hills are often clothed with 
Vtuu and Jumper, which, however, thrive very well in the 
still', retentive soils sometimes found in the valiies as 
well. One tiling, however, may be set down as a rule, ' 
that a plant which delights in a moist, peaty soil, as the ; 
Ehodinh’iulrou and others, will not thrive in the dry, 
I chalky soils of some of our hilly districts; and even the j 
j removal of a large quantity of suitable material to such 
a situation will only for a time ensure the hcaUh of the 
plant so placed, the ground having a tendency to alter ' 
the character of the material imported to it, so that in ; 
time it will assimilate with the stratum surrounding it; 
: neither are opposite mixtures beneficial iu all cases. 
I nine and ]ioat, though useful fertilizers, absolutely 
devour each other when mixed. 
Deciduous trees of most kinds plant tolerably well; | 
but much more so if tiiey have often been taken up, 
and the roots taught the process of “preparing them¬ 
selves” I'or such changes; as is the case with most 
fruit-trees now-a-days. As the welfare of the plant 
depends mostly on tho way in which it has been taken 
up, it would be better to make that all-imjiortant duty 
the first object sought after; next to which, the pro- i 
paration of the intended site, by a good digging and ; 
mixing with any better material at hand; and if the 
removal be from a soil differing widely from the one it 
is now to occupy, it would be as well to imitate it a little, 
by spreading a small quantity of similar soil over its 
roots at planting time, which will gradually merge into 
the other; at the same time, be it remembered, that | 
