Remarks. — The  lifting  of  such  young  plants  in  the  way  described,  is  employed  with
advantage  in  planting  in  tufts.  The  earth  raised  is  divided  into  clods  containing  each
a  certain  number  of  plants,  and  these  plants  are  conveyed  in  the  clod  to  the  i^lace
where  they  are  to  be  planted ;  fragments  containing  two,  three,  or  four  plants,  to  be
put  into  the  place  together,  are  ))roken  off,  and  at  least  one  of  these  always  grows.
To  obtain  hardier  plants  more  likely  to  take  root  under  severer  cod:-
ditions,  it  is  necessary  to  wait  nearly  three  years,  and  to  have  thern
transplanted.  The  design  of  this  operation  is  to  place  the  young  plants
in  circumstances  favorable  for  the  development  of  the  fibrous  roots.  Jtt
is  employed  for  plants  of  a  year  old,  and  should  be  done  in  spring,  Vh.
order  not  to  expose  the  young  plants  to  the  risk  of  being  raised  out  of
the  ground  by  the  frost.
It  has  been  attempted  to  avoid  the  expense  of  this  difficult  and  costly
operation.  As  regards  the  oak,  one  agent  has  mentioned  a  process
which  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  bring  under  the  notice  of  the  agents.
This  consists  in  artificially  causing  the  acorns  to  sprout  in  winter,  to
cut  off  the  radicle  and  sow  in  the  seed-bed  the  acorn  thus  mutdated.
It  has  been  remarked  that  the  loss  of  the  radicle  leads  to  the  formation
of  lateral  roots,  while  it  prevents  the  formation  of  a  descending  tap-
root.
