ON PLANTING WITH OAKS. 155 



tage of this mode of planting has been found to be, that the 

 pities dry and ameliorate the soil, destroying the coarse grass 

 and brambles which frequently choke and injure oaks ; and that 

 no mending over is necessary, as scarcely an oak so planted is 

 found to fail. It is not an expensive method of planting, espe- 

 cially if the plants are raised on the spot." 



Instead of the Scotch pine, our pitch pine, which very nearly 

 resembles it, might, as already recommended, be employed aS 

 a nurse to the oaks. The seeds of the pine can be procured in 

 any quantities, they easily vegetate, and as they are of a family 

 entirely remote from the oaks, their growth has no tendency to 

 deprive the soil of any essential nutriment. 



Iu many cases, the young pine woods already exist, and it 

 would be only necessary to sow the acorns or set the young 

 plants among them. As has just been seen, the latter method 

 has been preferred in England, where labor is much less ex- 

 pensive than here, and timber is so much more valuable, that it 

 is of great importance to save some years in the growth of the 

 trees, as is supposed to be done by the planting of young trees. 

 But, in consequence of the great cost of labor in this country, 

 it would be desirable to sow the acorns where the trees are to 

 stand, if any Avay could be contrived to defend them from mice 

 and squirrels ; and this might probably be done by sowing a 

 sufficient quantity to allow for the destruction which would be 

 caused by these animals. And there are many arboriculturists, 

 even in England, who prefer to sow the acorn where the tree is 

 to remain. 



As to the management of the acorn, the following extract 

 from Loudon will give the most approved mode: — "the acorns 

 need not to be gathered from the tree, but may be collected from 

 the ground immediately after they have dropped ; and, as in 

 the case of other tree seeds, they may be either sown then, or 

 kept till the following spring. If they are to be kept, they 

 should be made perfectly dry in the sun, or in an airy shed, 

 mixed with dry sand, in the proportion of three bushels of sand 

 to one bushel of acorns, or with dry moss ; and then excluded 

 from the air and vermin, by being put into barrels or boxes, or 

 laid up in a cellar, or buried in heaps, and covered with a suffi- 



