DIGGING.--At the proper season, and for most kinds this is at the fall of the leaf, the trees should be dug from the ground. This operation, as usually and necessarily conducted in large establishments, has to be done expeditiously and with less care than the amateur will be disposed to bestow upon this very important operation; and it sometimes happens that he will offer to pay the nurseryman a bonus for the privilege of digging his own trees with his own hands. In performing this operation he will be very careful to avoid mutilating the roots with the spade, or by using more force than is absolutely necessary in lifting the loosened tree from its bed after the roots have been pretty thoroughly liberated from the soil. He will follow the directions given under this head in the appropriate section of the chapter on _The Nursery_. The importance of puddling the roots as soon as the trees are dug, cannot be too forcibly impressed upon the planter and nurseryman; its value to the trees is so great as a protection of the tender covering of the roots from exposure to the blighting influences of light, wind, and frost, that the trifling labor and expense involved in the operation, should not receive a moment's consideration. A puddle hole should be within convenient reach of the nursery-rows where the digging is in progress, and each sort should be taken to it as soon as dug. The excavation should be about a foot deep, or more, for large plants, and as wide as is necessary to receive all the roots of the trees to be puddled. A plentiful supply of water should be at hand to put into the hole, and fine dry loamy soil should be sifted into this, or simply thrown in from the shovel, and thoroughly mixed, so as to bring the fluid to the consistency of thick cream. Into this mud the roots are dipped, until every fibre is endued with a coating of the fine material; the trees then are ready for tying snugly together, and a little dry dirt may be sprinkled or sifted upon the roots while they are still wet, so as to give them a further protection from the elements. They are then securely bound, each kind by itself, and each carefully labeled, if not already done; and as soon as all are grouped together, they are ready for transportation to their new homes. If the distance be short, so that the trees may be carried on the farm-wagon, no packing is used, unless the weather proves very inclement, but it is always safer to guard against both wind and sun, by covering the roots from their influence. For distant transportation, too much care cannot be taken to have the trees well packed to protect the roots from drying and freezing.