For the transplanting of cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries and other field crops special machines have been devised. They usually consist of a furrow-maker, a distance indicator, a plant-setting device, a tank for watering the individual plants as set, and two seats for the boys who place the plants alter nately as needed. The whole is mounted on wheels and drawn by a pair of horses. The position of the next row to be planted is indi cated by a marker. These machines are widely used and have been found to do excellent work with great rapidity and economy. The omisses" and failures are surprisingly small in number. They are economically filled by hand.
The transplanting of large trees is frequently practised for producing quick effects in parks and private estates. The subjects chosen are al ways such as have grown remote from other trees, first because the labor of cutting roots is less, and second because the tree is more shapely. Trees which have grown in groves and forests are rarely selected because their trunks are frequently too long, and have to be easily handled to be sightly when transplanted as isolated specimens. The lower and the•more bushy the top the better, because the mechanical appliances required are less powerful and costly and because the necessary pruning of the top after setting can be done with least injury to the form of the tree. If such trees may be obtained from shallow soil, so much the better.
because the roots will then be near the surface. Trenches are dug as far away from the trunk as seems advisable, with large specimens 15 feet or more radius is common. When the work is done during the growing season the roots ex posed are wrapped with wet moss, straw or similar material and burlap. They are wrapped and tied to the trunks for ease of handling in transit. The tree is lifted upon trucks after the excavation beneath it is complete and the ball of earth with the roots is transported to new quarters. In winter work with large trees the trenches are dug if possible in the fall and the tree with its ball of earth lifted when frozen. The practicable limit of weight for such specimens seems to be about 30,000 pounds. Such specimens of maple, elm and other hard wood trees have a diameter of about two and one-half feet. When being set in its new posi tion the earth should be shoveled in gradually after the roots are in place and abundant water be applied to ensure the complete filling of every cranny. Tamping the soil around the roots with small rods is also widely practised. It is doubtful if such operations are in the long run entirely satisfactory when considered in the light of the expense, but as in the case of ordi nary transplanting necessity demands them. Consult Bailey, 'Standard Cyclopedia of Horti culture> (New York 1914-17).