WINTER MEETING, 1879. 69 



ticed in other countries. In many of the northern and middle counties of this 

 State where much of the pine timber has been cut down and destroyed by fire, 

 I would recommend that such land should be totally cleared out, and whatever 

 is of value could be appropriated for some use, and all that was not could be 

 collected into heajis and burnt up at once so that the land would be all clear 

 for a new plantation. The only thing remaining in the w'ay would be the old 

 stumps, but as farmers contrive to get around these in the cultivation of their 

 various crops, so I am certain that trees could be planted, though with not 

 quite the same facility as on land where there is no encumbrance. 



Having your land already prepared, say 20, 30 or 50 acres, you must con- 

 sider where you can procure trees. I should be happy to fill such an order for 

 two or three hundred thousand of the seedling plants necessary, provided that 

 I had two or three years' previous notice that such young trees were wanted. I 

 do not propose to tell here how I would raise these from the seed and trans- 

 plant and cultivate in the nursery till they were of the proper size for planting 

 out. This is a separate business, and in this country requires a good deal of 

 both skill and attention. But as my business is just now to show how planting is 

 to be done, and that with the greatest facility, I shall proceed to describe what 

 I have done myself and seen others do upon a scale much greater than that of 

 which I am here speaking. 



THE MODE OF PLANTING. 



This depends on certain circumstances, namely, the nature of the ground to 

 be planted, whether it abounds with old stumps, or is clear land that has been 

 under cultivation ; also the kinds of trees to be planted, whether of pines or 

 hardwood, and likewise the size of the seedling plants. In Scotland the 

 greater number of the pines and larches are set out on a turf and on some of 

 the higher grounds partially covered with heath. In this case the plants are 

 generally from a foot to eighteen inches high, and are planted with a slit or 

 cross cut made in the ground with a spade somewhat in the form of the letter 



[ . A boy goes along carrying a bundle of the trees under his left arm, and 

 while the man is making the cross cut the boy is selecting a tree in his right 

 hand ready to put into the opening, which is made with a sort of lever pry by 

 the man with the spade, thus holding the turf up while the boy slips in the 

 tree and deftly gives the roots a turn round so as to spread them fully out, 

 wdien the man gives a firm tread with his foot to make the ground solid round 

 the neck and root of the tree, thus finishing the work. 



A great deal depends on the ntiture of the ground for getting on quickly. 

 In favorable cases a man and a boy will plant 250 trees in this way in an hour. 



The hardwood trees are generally planted in pits made with the spade, as the 

 roots are larger, and the work by this means is more sure and successful. When 

 the plantation consists entirely of pines and larch they are generally planted 

 on a square of four feet. This distance is found best for two reasons : as in 

 the first place, they soon cover the entire ground so as to completely keep down 

 all weeds and grass, and then by being so close together the tendency is to 

 grow up straight, while the side branches in this way are kept in subordinate 

 bounds. But this is only wdiat is termed in forestry a nursing process, which 

 may continue till the trees may be about eight to ten feet hio^h, when, possibly, 

 one-third or more will require to be cut out. 



These thinnings in Scotland are found to be an article of necessity with the 



