THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[August 29. 
f 328 
consistence to shingly and incoherent soils. Now, since 
what the gardener terms loam, or “ sound loam,” con¬ 
tains a considerable per eentage of clayey matter, it is 
evident that clay itself, or, what is better when procur¬ 
able, marl, may bo advantageously employed. 
I In the improvement of the staple, then, of loose or 
I sandy soils, there is no doubt that even clay will be 
beneficial, provided it is laid on the land betimes in the 
autumn, and not blended with the soil until it has 
fallen to pieces, which will be the case by the month of 
March, if it is turned and worked occasionally. In 
making stations for fruit-trees on such soils, we should 
unhesitatingly throw masses of 'clay in a raw state on 
the proposed platform, taking care to introduce weedy 
or vegetable matter liberally amongst it; for the two 
will act well together for years as a preventive agaiust 
extreme droughts, which so frequently cause fruits of 
various kinds to crack, as also the trees to he devoured 
with the red spider and other insects. Let it he remem¬ 
bered, nevertheless, that wo are speaking of dry and 
light soils only ; to pursue such a course on cool soils, 
would be a most unwise procedure. 
Marl , however, whether of the clay or slate kinds, is, 
of course, far superior to clay ; but not every one is for¬ 
tunate enough to be situated in a marly neighbourhood. 
f This may he blended liberally with all light or sandy 
materials for fruit-tree stations, taking care that it is 
j divided first, and adding vegetable matter freely. 
Before concluding these remarks, we may bo per¬ 
mitted to turn our attention to the amateur’s melons, 
pines, strawberries, and other fruits, for forcing pur¬ 
poses. A good loam is almost indispensable for high 
I culture in these things. Every one should endeavour 
annually to procure a little fresh, for sometimes it 
becomes expedient to use it fresh, or to mix them, as 
the case may be. We have before repeatedly described 
the consistence of such materials; we may now add, 
that the more coarse herbage it possesses the better. 
What are termed furrowing clods are excellent; and a 
stipulation may sometimes be entered into with the 
farmer, who would exchange such for manure ; or they 
may sometimes be bad for the labour necessary to pro¬ 
cure them. R. Errington. 
THE FLO W E II- G A Til) E Tv. 
Moving Large Evergreens.— One could hardly meet 
with a gardener of extensive practice, “in a day’s march,” 
who could not affirm, that evergreen trees anil bushes— 
yea, that all kinds of trees and shrubs, whether ever¬ 
green or otherwise —might he planted any month in the 
year, or “ all the year round,” provided that gentlemen 
choose to incur the expenses of the operation; and those 
who know little or nothing on the subject are firm in 
their belief, that the whole secret lie's in these “ ex¬ 
penses,' on the principle, as I suppose, that “ money 
makes the mare to go.” 
Much of our earliest knowledge of planting was first 
borrowed from nurserymen, whose more immediate 
business it was to remove young stock, and, as a matter 
ot course, were supposed to have learned by experience 
the fittest seasons for transplanting the di fie rent families 
which they reared. \\ hether it was that nurserymen 
were more wise in their generation than gardeners, or 
whether it suited their purpose better, it would he now 
difficult to prove; but sure it was that they, the said 
nurserymen, advised, or rather convinced, a race of gar¬ 
deners, that late in the spring was the safest period to 
remove their evergreens. “Here we are,” said they, 
“ we never arrange our quarters of evergreens till the 
sale for the plants is over; ” and, as “ early closing ” was 
not then thought of, he who kept his nursery longest 
open in the spring had so much the more chance of a 
longer sale ; and thus the planting of evergreens in 
April in the course of time became a positive creed with 
those concerned. The consequences of this belief gave 
rise to another creed, which affirmed, that evergreens 
were difficult to transplant at the best of times. A dry 
May setting in on the heels of a late removal of these 
plants was suro to kill many of them before they got 
hold of the new ground ; but this was overlooked when 
a dripping May succeeded the operation and all went on 
well. The scorching of the leaves, or the death of the 
branches, or—which as often happened—the death of 
the whole plant, was put down as the necessary conse¬ 
quence of the difficulty of removing this tribe of plants. 
All this, however, and more also, is now only a matter 
of history; evergreens, of all ages and sizes, are found 
to be as easily removed as deciduous ones, under the 
same circumstances ; and it is far more difficult to 
remove or transplant a popular creed or prejudice than 
any trees whatever. 
Of late years planters of evergreens have been divided 
into two classes; spring planters, from February to 
May; and late autumn planters, who would remove all 
kinds oi evergreens in November. But the most suc¬ 
cessful planter of evergreens in England—indeed, the 
best planter of them in the world—Mr. Barron, gar¬ 
dener to Lord Harrington, at Elvaston Castle, in Derby¬ 
shire, has proved beyond a doubt, that midsummer, or 
between that and the end of July, is the true season in 
our climate for the removal of very large specimens, 
tie would make no more “ ado” about removing a yew | 
at that season that had been planted in the time of 
Henry VIII., than some planters would if they had to [ 
transplant ten yards of box edging round a bed of roses 
next Michaelmas. It is asserted by Mr. Barron’s friends 
(for he does not write much himself), that his criterion 
torthe proper time to remove a large evergreen is, when 
it ceases to make its annual growth. This may happen a 
few weeks earlier or later in different seasons, according 
to the lateness or earliness of our springs; therefore, to 
say that midsummer, or any given period, is preferable 
to a few weeks before or after it, would not be quite 
right. I have seen enough of plants and planting to 
convince me that Mr. Barron’s time and criterion for 
this kind of planting are the true ones; and I shall go 
one step more—having a proof of the assertion in my 
pocket—and say, that when a large evergreen is so near 
the place where it is to be transplanted to, as that the 
work may be completed in a couple of hours from the 
time the roots are uncovered, the hotter the day and the 
more cloudless the sky, the more surely will the plant 
succeed, provided there is no screen put between it and 
the sun in the new situation, as has been recommended 
by some. But if the plant has to be removed from a 
distance, so that its roots and its leaves are acted on by 
the sun and air longer than the balance between them 
will hold out, the work would be more safe in cloudy or 
rainy weather. In either case, and in all planting of 
large evergreens in summer, the planting is more sure J 
it done in water, that is, to allow an open space I 
for the roots to be laid out at full length ; and to 
wash in the soil amongst them with water, by first 
throwing the soil on the ball of earth which accom- { 
panied the roots, and then pouring water over it to wash 
it down among the roots. In very hot weather roots 1 
will suck up their full from this watering in a few hours, | 
and fresh roots are made in a few days, from which, 
and the fresh soil, a plant from a poor soil may bo better j 
fed, and do better afterwards, than if it had not been 
removed at all. If we now suppose some unforeseen 
accident to have caused the roots to reject the water, 
and not to extend themselves by new growth for one 
week, why in that case death would ensue immediately. 
Some six and thirty years since, the late Sir William 
Middleton brought a packet of seeds of the tree box 
