68 FOREST WORK FOR THE MONTH. [May 



SCOTLAND. 



ALL tree planting should for the season have already been 

 finished. Ehododendrons may, however, still be removed 

 with safety, possessing as they usually do the threefold advantage 

 of being well rooted, very hardy, and large balls of earth attached, 

 thereby rendering them more safe of removal than probably any 

 other shrub grown in this country. All common hedge cutting and 

 pruning should also have already been finished ; but to this rule 

 there is one exception, namely, that of cutting over very old thorn 

 bushes or hedges. For reasons too tedious to explain here, old 

 thorn hedges are much safer to be cut over towards the end of May, 

 when partially out in leaf, than at any other season of the year. 

 Thorns or quicks too old to cut over successfully during the winter 

 months, will, when cut over, now produce buds and young shoots, 

 and spring forth vigorously the second season ; whereas, if cut over 

 in winter, or even in autumn, they very frequently die outright. 

 Pruning ivy-covered walls, trellises, etc., and evergreens of all sorts 

 should now be proceeded with as expeditiously as possible, and all 

 withered, injured, and decayed foliage neatly removed. Where 

 tidiness and pleasing effect are pre-eminently desired, close atten- 

 tion to evergreens is of primary importance, and if neglected now 

 they remain an eyesore all the season round. Though grafting and 

 propagation work generally belong more properly to the nursery- 

 man than the forester, yet where a home nursery is kept, and where 

 the duties of the forester necessarily embrace these, now is the time 

 to have them finished. Grafting is a work that must be learned 

 practically, and no amount of written instructions can suffice for the 

 learner, to whom one single lesson by example will teach more than 

 any amount of verbal instruction. The main work of seedling 

 planting should have already been done, and the seed-sowing accom- 

 plished as soon as the ground is sufficiently dry to work properly ; 

 and on no account should it be wrought wlien wet. Better delay 

 the work three weeks past the ordinary time of sowing, than sow at 

 the regular time when the soil is wet and unfit for receiving the 

 seed. The seed-beds are usually formed 4 feet wide, with alleys 

 between them 15 inches. The seeds should be covered with fine 

 earth, about half an inch thick, rather less than more ; and the seeds 

 previous to sowing should be first wet with water and afterwards 

 well rubbed or dusted over with red lead in the powdery state. 

 This is to prevent the wild birds from eating it, which they do 

 rapaciously, at same time picking off the tops of the seedlings as 

 they rise above the ground, or uprooting them altogether. Various 



