IN CUTTING DOWN PLANTATIONS. 293 



As it is sometimes dangerous to use grass seed harrows for 

 covering the seeds among the trees, on account of the roots 

 catching the tines, the writer has used bundles of branches 

 tied together, and by dragt^ing them several times over the 

 surface all that is required for covering the seeds are attained 

 without risk. The ground may then be rolled with a heavy 

 roller, which will not only smooth and level the surface, but also 

 render it firm to resist drouglit. 



At different places here and there, where poplar trees were 

 left as standards, a great many suckers from the latter made 

 their appearance with the young grass, and as these are much 

 relished in either a green or dried state by sheep and cattle, 

 they form a valuable addition to the useful forage plants of a 

 Highland estate. The writer has been in the practice for many 

 years of cutting these shoots along with the grass, and making 

 them into hay together, the after grass being depastured by sheep. 



When building the hay into a stack in autumn, my practice 

 has been to sprinkle a little salt over each layer of hay as the 

 building proceeds, say about Ij stone of salt to each ton of 

 hay. This has the effect of checking too rapid fermentation, 

 destroys the spores of poisonous fungi, kills insects and destroys 

 their eggs, and renders the hay sweet, palatable, and nutritious. 



]\^o. 2. — In cutting down Scotch fir plantations on exposed 

 heather moor ground at high elevations, the latter species of tree 

 answers admirably to be left here and there for standards, as 

 they not only afford a certain amount of shelter, but the heather 

 in such places is generally green and tender, and in a time of 

 frost and snow it stands up against the blast, and is not so easily 

 covered up and pressed down as grass, by which means it affords 

 a valuable run for sheep and store cattle in winter and spring, 

 when pastures are bare and feeding scarce, all of which put 

 together is not only conducive to the animals' health, but also 

 forms an important item of economy. 



Scotch firs in such a position soon reproduce themselves from 

 seeds, but as long as the ground is depastured by sheep and 

 cattle, they eat down the young plants as soon as they appear 

 among the heather, and at this stage of their growth they are 

 valuable as forage plants. 



Should it ]je desirable, however, at any time to convert tiio 

 ground into a forest of young trees, the sheep and cattle have 

 only to be withdrawn, the standard trees cut down ;ind 

 removed (if wanted), and the ground properly fenced to protect 

 the young progeny, by wliicli means the surface will soon get 

 stacked with fine healtliy young trees, and prove a valuible 

 addition to the forest without furtlicr trouble or expense. 



At the time this property belonged to Lord Fife, a great deal 

 of the present i)ine forest was re])roduced in tliis wny. 



