1878. ] 
MICROLEPIA IIIRTA C'EISTATA.—TRANSPLANTING TREES. 
59 
MICROLEPIA IIIRTA CRISTATA. 
)E liave here a fine acquisition amongst 
. ,, our tender exotic ferns, and one which 
will prove of great value as a decor¬ 
ative plant. The fronds grow to a large size, 
three to four feet in length, and are not only 
segments. The pinnules are linear-oblong, 
obtuse, about an inch long, divided into several 
obovate decurrent segments, and the apex of 
the frond is multifid-cristate. The texture of 
the frond is herbaceous, and the surface both 
of the fronds, stipules, and rachides densely 
hairy. This will prove a very useful ornamental 
evergreen Fern, on account of its graceful habit, 
the fronds being of a spreading or arching style 
of growth. The drooping tassels hanging from 
the apex of the frond itself, and from the ends 
of all the pinnae, give it a very pleasing char¬ 
acter, so that it is well adapted both for 
pot-culture and also for suspending overhead 
in baskets. It has been recently imported 
from the South Sea Islands by Mr. B. S. 
Williams, and is one of those Ferns which can 
be grown rapidly into an effective size and con¬ 
dition. We have also seen the same variety from 
other sources. Our figure is taken from the 
Gardeners' Chronicle. —T. Moore. 
evergreen, but abundantly produced, the habit 
being free and vigorous. They are broadly 
ovate, tripinnate, and gracefully pendent, made 
up of numerous pinme, which are lanceolate- 
oblong, broad at the base, and somewhat nar¬ 
rowed upwards, the apex, which is multifidly- 
forked, forming a tassel of finely divided 
TRANSPLANTING LARGE 
VALUABLE TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3LL such plants should be prepared for 
removal, but forethought frequently 
is deprived of exercising the desirable 
preparation, because the alterations and im¬ 
provements determined upon are so quickly put 
in practice after the conception of the arrange¬ 
ment, that there is no rest till it is all finished. 
Therefore, any plan that gives something like 
certainty of success in the immediate trans¬ 
planting of large trees and plants is of con¬ 
siderable importance. 
The system generally adopted is—the season 
before transplanting to dig all round at an 
equal distance from the crown or collar, 
smoothly cutting all the roots, which causes 
innumerable rootlets to spring into the dug-up 
soil ; these rootlets, taken up with the ball of 
earth, ensure success. Trees moved without 
this preparation frequently are for years sickly 
specimens, owing to the want of a sufficient 
number of fine rootlets to gather the necessary 
nourishment to support so large a plant. 
This reasoning, induced by a heavy job, 
called forth the idea of digging the ball of 
earth in shape of a parallelogram instead of 
round. This novel plan gives on two sides a 
set of long roots, with numerous rootlets un- 
