SECTION VIII. TAKING-UP, AND TRANSPORTATION OF If there be any one thing more than another, in the Removal of Trees, that places the superiority of the Preservative system in a striking point of view, it is the management of the Roots. Few planters, in the Taking-up of Trees, make much account of roots, provided that a large mass or ball of earth only adhere to them. Marshall, one of the most judicious writers who has treated the subject, in giving directions on this point, says, that the length of the roots, properly speaking, should not be less than the fourth part of the whole height of the Tree; although probably, from a want of the means of extricating them from the soil, he did not contemplate the possibility of applying the rule to Trees of any magnitude. Had he been better acquainted with Ve * See Rural Ornament, Vol. I. P. 367. getable Physiology, he would have seen, that, by the law of nature, roots and branches must, in every case, be relative and correlative, and that the standard of judging is not the height of the plant, but the actual length of the side-branches. If we mean that our subjects should fully possess the Protecting Properties, in respect to those two important Conservative organs, they must possess them relatively in such proportions, as nature confers on all Trees, which are found to thrive in open exposures. Roots spread themselves in the ground, in a way nearly analogous to that, in which branches spread themselves in the air, but with a far greater multiplicity of ramification. From the principal root proceed the buds, that give rise to the primary rootlets; and these again give off finer ramifications, which are the true absorbents of the root. To take up such minute and diminutive shoots on the Preservative principle, in anything like an entire state, is obviously impossible, with the arboricultural implements now generally in use. Hence it became necessary to have something more effective; and the Tree-Picker was, many years since, invented for this purpose, and is now partially used in Scotland by those, who have witnessed its extraordinary utility in my practice. This implement is of very simple structure, resembling the Pick used by miners, but with only one point or prong, which forms an angle somewhat more acute with the handle, than in the miner's pick. See Plate III., Fig. 4. The head, which is of iron, and fifteen inches long in the prong, is made extremely light, as also the wooden handle. The length of the latter is two feet and a half, the entire implement weighing no more than about fourand-a-half pounds. In fact, it can scarcely be made too light, for the purpose in question. From what has been said, in the foregoing Section, respecting the Preparation of Trees, it is apparent, that those which have been cut round, are more easily taken up, than those that have never been so prepared. The trench, made during this operation, serves as a sure guide to show the point, to which the fibrous elongation has extended; whereas, in subjects which have undergone no such preparation, the roots must be judged of from other, and, sometimes, more uncertain circumstances. Every experienced workman is aware, in examining a Tree that has never been prepared, for the purpose of taking it up, that, in any tolerable rooting-ground, he will find the points of the roots, if not mechanically prevented, running out to the full extent of the branches, which hang over them, and sometimes still farther out. Hence, he should begin cautiously, to try with the spade and picker, in order to discover the extreme points of the rootlets. Whether the roots he may lay bare belong to the plant, or to some other Tree of the same species, he will at a glance perceive, from what the workmen call the "feathering," that is, the position of the capillary rootlets, upon the primary rootlets or branches, which are always found pointing outwards from the body of the Tree. Having ascertained where the extremities lie, the next step to be taken is, to open a trench two, or two-and-a-half feet wide, and cut down to the subsoil or deeper, should the roots have penetrated so far. The bank is then to be undermined, in which the roots seem to lie, to the extent of eight or ten inches, in order to facilitate the operation of the Picker. Two workmen are next to extricate or scratch up the roots, while one more is sufficient to throw out the mould, which, in consequence, falls down into the trench; and thus the workmen are distributed, three and three together, according to the number employed, over the whole extent of the excavation. As every effort must be made to preserve the minutest fibres and capillary rootlets entire, the difference between an experienced and an inexperienced workman is very striking, in an operation of so much nicety; and the surprising dexterity, which some men of ingenuity and attention acquire in this department, is as valuable to the employer, as it is beautiful and interesting to the spectator who examines it. The main thing, which the Pickman has here to study, is, never to strike across the roots, but as much as possible in the line of their elongation, always standing himself, while at work, in the right line of divergence from the Tree as a centre; that is, in such a line, or lines, as the rays of the sun are represented to describe, in emanating from that luminous body. In striking the picker into the ground, which must sometimes be done pretty deeply, there is a certain dexterous shake, more easily understood than described, which a superior workman knows how to give with the implement; and that, when properly applied, will more efficaciously and speedily discover and disengage the various bearings and ramifications of the root, than any other method. By thus continuing to extricate the roots, and to shovel away the mould that falls into the trench, at one and the same time, an immense body, amounting to thousands, and sometimes to millions of roots great and small, will ere long be disengaged, and which must be carefully laid aside or bundled up, so as to make room for the workmen, and also to avoid the strokes of their implements, as well as injury from their feet. In like manner, the stiffer roots must be cautiously put aside and disposed of, and any that are broken or lacerated cut off. Ere long, the Pickmen from all sides nearly meet in the centre, by approaching to within three, four, or five feet of the stem, in proportion to its size; and at this point the pro |