418 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 1. 
! juices it can ill spare, is one of tho planter’s greatest 
enemies. We are all familiar with the vast amount of 
humidity the air generally contains during the late 
autumn months. Sunshine, moreover, is a scarce 
article; and I need scarcely add, that sunlight is of 
no utility to newly-planted trees, hut, rather, the reverse. 
It will be evident, then, that the chances are much 
in favour of the declining autumn months as to air- 
moisture, or, at least, there is less dissipation, 
j The next consideration urged, is a steady or per¬ 
manent ground-moisture, the necessity of which, to 
J new planting, is obvious to the most uninformed reader. 
I think it will he found that betimes in September, and 
generally in “ old October,” rain falls pretty liberally, 
in other words, we are not accustomed to expatiate on 
droughts after the middle of September has fairly passed. 
But who has not heard of “March dust?” Not that 
it is an annual affair, however; hut when it does 
occur, which is sufficiently frequent to gain it a time- 
honoured name amongst farmers, it is dust in earnest. 
I think that little more need he said, on the present 
occasion, to prove the advantages, on the average, of 
autumn-planting over that of the spring; and I will 
proceed to handle a few points of a merely practical 
character, which should be well thought over by young 
planters. In the first place, What about balls of earth ? 
I am persuaded, from experience, that too much fuss by 
half is made about the ball. I do not deny that a 
certain amount of it is not only beneficial, hut really 
necessary, under certain circumstances; hut, it may he 
remembered, that such is too often obtained at the cost 
of hundreds of valuable fibres. A hall, too, loses half 
its importance in October planting; whilst in spring, 
the planter having the fear of March winds and sun¬ 
shine in his eye, feels that under the heavy demand 
that will he made on the foliage during such weather, 
the tree will need some instant resources to fall hack 
on. My advice is, do not sacrifice your fibres for the 
sake of the ball; get a moderate share if you can, hut 
he sure to take care of the fibrous roots. Great care 
should he taken to avoid galling the roots; many a 
good tree is thus spoiled in the act of removal; the 
bipeds, called planters, may do more harm by half 
than the sun and wind. 
Some people are very fond of planting on a rainy 
day: this is not such sound doctrine as it would, at 
first sight, appear. In the first place, no operation con¬ 
nected with the soil can be carried out so well when 
the soil is wet as when it is sound; and secondly, it is 
ten to one your men are secretly displeased, and an 
under current of ill-feeling not unfrequently mars im¬ 
portant processes. Besides, what does a wet day for the 
fibres any more than can be done by a water-pot? Some 
good-natured persons hold a fancy that the tree will 
“ get hold” directly if planted on a showery day—every¬ 
thing looks so green and exuberant. But this is pre¬ 
posterous as applied to shrubs or trees; be the day as 
it will, many days must elapse before the disturbed 
fibres can resume their functions. In these operations 
it is by far the best plan to station one man at the 
water-pot—not to move on any account, and then—with 
a syringe almost constantly at work, he can keep a con¬ 
stant dew on all naked portions of the roots. Our 
uninformed readers may rest assured that there will be 
no need of rain if this be done ; and as to the expense, 
why, if the tree is of any consequence, hesitate not on 
; this point. Who would risk losing a valuable Holly, of 
j ten or twelve feet in height, for the sake of a man’s 
labour for three or four hours ? 
We have heard much about “puddling,” from some 
' quarters. Now, I do not altogether condemn the prac¬ 
tice, for it is sometimes of benefit; but it is by no 
means of general application. Puddling is sometimes 
of benefit where the planter’s ground is coarse, and not 
over moist; inasmuch, as cases arise where it is difficult 
to get the interstices of the soil filled in ; but where the 
soil is made friable, as it ought to be by manual labour 
previous, no puddling for me. It is, however, a very 
good plan to apply a good Hooding of water when the 
soil is only half filled in, so that every crevice may be 
filled, and then to leave the upper portion of the soil 
rather loose, unless dry, when another good watering 
should be given. 
About the mode of filling in the soil, one remark is 
here necessary—the filling in trees or shrubs with and 
without balls. It is just so with the repotting of plants; 
the two processes have many points of agreement. If 
a gardener is shifting a hard-wooded plant, say a Camel¬ 
lia, which has a firm ball, he will not leave the soil 
loose round the ball, but press it close, if not tight, in 
the act of filling. If, however, the subject were a Gera¬ 
nium, which had been disrooted, and all the soil shaken 
away, he would pot in a very different way—very little 
pressing needed here. The reasons are obvious. If 
the Camellia with a ball were treated as the Geranium, 
the subsequent waterings would only saturate the new 
soil, whilst the ball within would be dry as dust, and 
the plant would be starving in the midst of plenty. 
And thus have hundreds of pot plants perished, and 
thence so many queries about such mishaps. Wliere- 
ever there is a ball, and that tolerably firm, press the 
filling in, I say, firmly; and this is one reason for my 
preferring a mellow state of soil to one that is wet— 
mellow soil will bear the foot, wet soil not so; it would, 
indeed, be “ puddling.” 
Good planters exercise a prudent forethought where- 
ever circumstances require it, and such can be met by 
the amount of labour. If they have a harsh, lumpy, or 
adhesive soil to deal with, means must be taken to 
pulverise at least as much soil as will be requisite to 
fill up the interstices betwixt the fibres; and, of course, 
the holes are excavated beforehand. In many cases, in 
which the plant or tree is of much importance, and 
where it is necessary to carry speedy effect, the ex¬ 
perienced planter will have some superior soil adapted 
to the tree in question provided from the compost yard, 
where all the refuse of the potting bench and surplus 
mixtures should ever be preserved for such purposes. 
Lastly, as of groat importance to large specimens, I 
would urge the propriety, on all sound soils, of forming 
what is termed a basin over the surface of the newly- 
planted tree’s roots. I am aware, that in dress-ground 
this is somewhat averse to smartness of appearance, but 
the latter ought to concede half-a-point in so material 
an affair. It often happens, that a large evergreen, 
although planted in October, and well rooted during the 
same autumn, will require liberal waterings in the 
following May, in order to prevent leaf-shedding. In 
such cases, it is best to give a score of large water-cans- 
full at a watering: dribbling is of little use here. How 
convenient, then, is it to have a capacious basin to 
retain and equalise the water, as also to conduct rains 
to the roots at all times. 
Those who have quantities of very small shrubs or 
evergreens to transplant, will find it a good plan to 
make a clayey puddle on the spot where they are re¬ 
moved from, and dip their roots in before placing them 
in the cart or other vehicle which is to convey them to 
the planter. In this county, I have seen Hollies tied 
in bunches, and thrown on the top of coal or other 
carts, without the least precautions, and after travelling 
half a score of miles in a March wind, planted as 
hedges, or otherwise; and after nine-tenths failing, the 
farmers gravely asking tho gardener, how it was they 
could not grow Hollies. If the planter can choose his 
day, by all means let him avoid a sunny one with a 
drying wind. R. Errington. 
