352 SYL.VA AMERICANA. 



growth, suddenly attain a size and vigorous vegetation highly det- 

 rimental to the young forest trees. 



2. Mattock planting is confined chiefly to rocky ground, and 

 to soils containing many coarse tough roots of herbage, heath, 

 &c. ; and under these circumstances the mattock is an indispen- 

 sable instrument. It is thus described in the Planter's Kalen- 

 dar : ' The handle is three feet six inches long ; the mouth is 

 five inches broad, and is made sharp ; the length of it to the eye or 

 shaft is sixteen inches, the small end or pick is seventeen inches 

 long.' (c, Plate 108.) It may be unnecessary to mention that 

 the broad or hoe end should be faced with steel and kept well 

 sharpened ; it is perfectly effective in cutting or paring the heath, 

 furze, &c, and the pick end is equally so for thoroughly loosen- 

 ing and fitting the soiLto be operated on with the spade or plan- 

 ter (d). The hackle prongs are recommended for clayey, tena- 

 cious soils, which are difficult to work with the spade. It is 

 made with two or three prongs ; the former of two for the soil 

 just mentioned, and the latter of three prongs for stony or gravelly 

 soils. 



3. Holing. Holes or pits are dug out, and the loosened soil 

 left for a season to the action of the weather, to meliorate or re- 

 duce its texture. Time should be afforded for the rotting or de- 

 composition of the turf or surface produce taken off the space 

 which is opened, previous to the period of planting. The size 

 of the holes should vary according to the size of the plants to be 

 planted, and to the nature of the subsoil. Plants from one and a 

 half to two feet high should have the holes two feet wide and 

 eighteen- inches deep, prepared in the summer or autumn for the 

 reception of the plants in the spring. For trees of larger growth, 

 the extent of the roots must determine the size of the holes, 

 making an allowance of from six inches to a foot of extra width 

 beyond the extreme points of the roots. Holes made in tenacious 

 clays retain the water which falls into them, and rots the roots of 

 the trees ; dry, light, sandy soils cannot be benefitted by the pul- 

 verizing action of the sun and air ; rocky soils admit but imper- 

 fectly of holing ; and some kinds of binding gravelly soils are as 

 liable to the retention of moisture as stiff clays. The practice of 



