128 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 



in order to keep the sod from forming and checking the growth of the trees, to culti- 

 vate the soil, whereas, in most instances, where the trees are planted 5 by 5 feet apart, 

 the surface soil was kept shaded and moist, and sod did not form. As the conditions 

 of soil are different in the belts where the trees are planted in clumps of a single 

 species and where the several kinds are mixed together, a fair comparison of these 

 two methods of planting cannot yet be made, but the advantages derived from mixing 

 the leafier sorts of trees with those which are not very leafy, are already apparent. 

 Where thin foliaged trees had been planted 5 by 5 feet apart and had had eight years' 

 growth, the sod still formed very readily unless the soil was kept cultivated, thus 

 showing that sufficient shade was not afforded to prevent the growth of grass and 

 weeds. In 1899 some plantations were begun with trees and shrubs set 2£ feet apart 

 each way in order to get the ground shaded soon. Most of these have made good 

 growth, and the experiment promises to be very interesting, as different kinds of trees 

 and shrubs were used for undergrowth. These plantations were cultivated this year 

 and in 1900. 



In the annual reports for 1897 and 1899, tables were published in which were 

 given the measurements of trees in the forest belts at the Central Experimental Farm. 

 A table is again published this year in which will be found the height and diameter 

 of the trees up to the autumn of the present year. 



