351 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEll. 
September 5.] 
| receives any moisture—the water would run oft it into 
| the fresh soil as oft a duck's back. So here is another 
! principle, and a very bad principle it is; for all the gar- 
, doners in the country could not wet it. Therefore it 
would never do to plant large box-trees in June on this 
| principle. On the other hand, if the work had to be 
j performed in November, when tho laco ol the eaith is 
! well moistened with the autumn rains, this ball of it 
would bo moist also, and then would be in a lit and 
proper state to be removed, with care, for tho benofit of 
the roots which held it together. We shall call this the 
wet or moist side of the principle; and on this view of 
it we find writers on planting largo trees recommend¬ 
ing a ball to be removed with large and small treos. 
Now, when one's head gets full of principles, he might 
say on principle, that what was good for the goose 
should do for the gander; that what was essential for 
Ihe good of a tree on removing it in November should not, 
on principle, bo otherwise in June; but here tho prin¬ 
ciple breaks down,—the case, as wo have seen, is just the 
reverse, and my definition of a principle is right after 
all; therefore it was that this huge ball of earth was 
reduced bit by bit with three-pronged forks, and with 
the greatest possible precaution, so that the roots 
received as little damage as could be ; the loose soil thus 
picked or forked oft - the ball was removed from the 
trench as fast as it was loosed, and tho trench itself was 
getting wider and wider in consequence, so that by the 
time we reached where we expected, and where wo found 
some tap roots, the trench was large enough to allow the 
men to look about them and see how best to deal with 
these tap roots. When they found one as large as the 
little finger, they digged lower down by tho side of it, 
and when they could dig no farther, the root was cut 
clean oft with a knife: it is true, that on tho principle 
of convenience, this root might be thrust through with 
a spade as low down as it could reach, and then pulled 
up and the bruised end cut off with a knife; but here 
the idea part of tho principle comes against that part of 
it which is founded on convenience; for the moment we 
begin to work among principles, they thicken around 
i us. If the root were hit hard with a spado, the principle 
of tension or strain is immediately involved, for roots, 
like other parts of plants, are made of long fibres and 
tubes, something after the manner of a rope ; and every 
one of these members has a part to play in the economy 
of the plant; if, therefore, you strain a root so that it 
must break, all the damage you cause it may not bo just 
at the point of breakage; in all probability some of the 
fibres of the root are broken far back nearer tho stem, 
although held together by tho bark, so that cutting oft' 
the lagged end of a root on the principle of convenience 
is not tho best way. The better plan is never to put a 
firm root to the test of straining at all, but to cut it oft 
at ouce with a sharp knile. In tho whole circle ol gar¬ 
dening there is not a more mischievous act, or the result 
of which is less understood, than this of straining the 
roots; 1 have known plants die from it two years after 
the operation. There is a race of tho Cactus family in 
Mexico, and in other parts of Central and South America, 
having their stems compressed into round heavy lumps 
of soft matter, like our melons or turnips, and they root 
j from tho bottom just like a turnip; and in hot countries 
! these roots go down a long way to find moisture, so that 
it is hard to pull them up when one wishes to remove 
any of tho plants. I have known some of these plants 
received in this country to all appearance perfectly sound, 
and remain so for many months afterwards, but to havo 
died after awhile, because their roots were too much 
strained in pulling up the plants, tho ileshy portion in 
tho heart of the plants began first to decay from the 
tender ends of tho roots having given way there and 
i caused an internal fracture; mortification proceeded 
slowly, till at last it reached tho outside, and people 
began to wonder what ailed the plants, “ that they died 
so.” Farmers cry out when their turnips do not keep in 
heaps, after thoy are torn by main force from hard dry 
ground, and their roots strained at all points; and so do 
thoso who think themselves very cunning, who pull 
up bulbs abroad after tho samo manner, when they 
find after all their care of them they die by inches 
before their eyes. The same happens with fruit and 
forest-trees, and sometimes witli box-trees also, but 
our boxes escaped that kind of principle, all the large 
roots that could not bo dug out wore cut clean off by tho 
knife. An oak-tree should no more be pulled by the 
root than a melon cactus. 
After all this, and by the time the whole of the roots 
were separated from the under soil, tho ball was so re¬ 
duced that three stout men could lift the plant on to a 
low truck, and what earth was left close to the stem of 
the plant was pierced through and through with the 
pronged forks, or with a sharp pointed stick, so that 
water could got into it at the first touch ; tho plant was 
then set down on tho surface of the now border, not in 
a hole made to receive it, but on the bare surface, which 
it will be recollected we loft eighteen inches lower than 
tho surface of the terrace; then a ring or bank of fresh 
soil was made outside tho end of the roots, and a foot or 
so in height; this ring was to confine the water to the 
space occupied by the roots, and for washing it down 
amongst them with the water-pot as the work proceeded. 
Some recommend, first, to make a puddle of earth and 
water, and thou to put in the plant. I nover plant that 
way. 
Now, throe men with spades, at equal distances round 
the plant, began to throw loose sand and earth up to tho 
stem of the box-tree, not on the bare roots: and two 
men with large watering-pots, with the roso on, stood 
opposite each other pouring water on the stem, which 
washed down tho soil as fast as the three men could 
throw it on ; one man did no more than keep the plant 
steady, and if a strong pole or stake were first driven in 
the border before the water planting commenced, and 
the bush tied to it, this man’s time might bo saved, and 
the plant be the better for it afterwards; but in our 
case wo were planting a close hedge, and stakes were not 
needed; but in planting singly, one or throe stakes 
should first bo placed whore they would best support the 
plant. When all the hollow parts under the bottom 
roots wore thus filled up with what I may call mud, a 
third watering-pot was put to work on the bank outside 
tho roots; this pot had a rose to it so that it should not 
break through tho bank, but merely wear down the in¬ 
side of it gently against tho roots. In this way the roots 
were soon covered, and when the water drained away 
every root must have been encased as closely as the 
wick inside a “ dip ” candle; and to prevent evaporation 
an inch or two of very dry soil was placed over tho 
whole, and we all returned to tho “ box bank ” for 
another subject; and after all were planted, the whole 
were damped every evening for tho first month with a 
garden engine, and not one single leaf failed. 
Now, is there any reason to suppose that the same 
men, country labourers, with tho same care, and under 
similar circumstances could not be as successful with a 
thousand or ten thousand large box-trees as with a 
few scores, and that if they had continued to plant all 
the summer, tho same results would be obtained. 1 am 
not quite so suro, however, that from this time to Christ¬ 
mas the success should be so complete, because after 
this time tho active power of the plants to form new 
roots will be on the decline, and go on so in the same 
ratio as the degrees of temperature. In November large 
plants can bo removed and look very well, without 
giving them so much water as we did—indeed, without 
giving them any water; but that is not the question at 
all, or whether it is better to plant in November atone 
