PLANTING.

Auckland Times, Volume 2, Issue 54, 23 January 1844, Page 1

PLANTING.

(Continued front the *' Timt%" of January f.) The stocks for these trees should be raised from seed of the common species, to which each variety is nearest allied, for the nearer the connexion of the stock with the graft, the more lasting is the union and more perfect the growth. In trees that have been grafted on unsuitable stocks, we frequently see the base of the stem abruptly contracted to a smaller cii ferenee than the upper portion, and, vice versa, just as the stock or the graft iiappens' to possess the freest isobit of growth. The stocks should be planted in rows of two feet apart, and should be one foot, distant plant from plant. When arrived a$ two years of transplant th they Will be in a fit state to graft The grafts should bg united to the stock as near to the root as convenient This facilitates the vigorous growth of the tree, and allows of the earth being drawn, up on each side to cover the clayed portion of the graft. The clay should be removed from the grafts, and tape ties and bandages loosened when the progress of the new shoots ftf the graft indicates the perfect completion of the process. In the spring following that in the trees were grafted, many of I may be transplanted to their pe Rent sites ; but it is better as a gei rule, to defer transph the second autumn or sj. of the different kinds of 'trees most ! suitable for ftnaJ. transplanting is a of some importance, particularly fflien the planting is on a large scale, md where the preservation of every

fibre of the foots of the plants cannot be accomplished without an unnecessary expense of time and labour. A -very >lant may be readily taken ita its roots re; but a plant of sc jet :hx ■•'& in from injury. The structure and tbe functions of the Toots of trees, as connected with the produce and support of the p-ant. and dearly |ioint out tbe use of the minute rootlets and their** aeeompaming spongeols, or glands, to the nourishment of the plant in every stage of its growth, and under every change of circumstance. Accordingly we find that, if a plant is taken up and transplanted with all its roots entire and uninjured, it experiences scarcely any perceptible check, unless its roots are exposed to the effects of the sun and wind for any considerable time, in which case it makes little, if any progress for a season. A moderate degree or pruning, however, of the overgrown and straggling roots of young trees, possessing the reproductive power in a full degree, and of the branches, of their stems, is oftea expedient, and, when judiciously per* formed, is beneficial: it prevents tb© accident of doubling up the roots, or improperly disposing them in the soil, an evil of worse consequence tc plant than the shortening of an overgrown root, or lateral branch. To trees which possess the rep roots or brand transplanting is injurious. The facility with which young plants of any kind can be taken up without hurting the roots, and the slight pruning which they require at that stage of point out, as a general rule of deciding' on the most proper size of the different species of trees for final transplar: j that the non-reproductive kinds should be of the smallest size or earliest stage of growth, and those in which the reproductive power is greatest, of the largest size. If we divide the stem of a Scotch fir, or a larch, a corresponding stem is not reproduced; but if we cut down, iu like manner, a willow, or even ehesnut, or an oak, a vigorous stem will follow. Where the habit of the root is to divide into large branches, and run deep into the ground, as in the case of ''the oak, younger plants are required for transplanting than in those instances where the habit of the root.is to produce numerous fibres. The nature of the soil also dictates, in some measure, the size of the plants. In rocky, elevated soils, that cannot I ghed or trenched, nor can ailo - per sized being made with the spade, plants of one or two years growth, or such as have small roots can on'y be planted; when exposed to severe winds, plant* above one foot in height are loosened in the soil, and never prosper.