126 AFFORESTATION OF WASTE LANDS [June 



Hillside and Tableland. — Sandy loam resting on sand or gravel 

 will grow birch, larch, Scots fir, and almost all the fir tribes. 

 Chalky soils resting on calcareous sand are well suited for beech, 

 and will grow ash and oak. 



Valley. — Moist clay, with a mixture of gravel and sand, will grow 

 oak, ash, hornbeam, spruce, and almost all the varieties of pine. A 

 clayey loam with a clay and gravel subsoil, will grow almost all 

 the kinds of timber trees indigenous to our country. 



Selection of Plants. 



In the selecting of plants from public nurseries, the purchaser 

 should be careful to reject all plants that have the slightest appear- 

 ance of being diseased. He should therefore visit the nursery in 

 summer when the plants are in full leaf. Those that are over- 

 crowded in the nursery rows should also be rejected ; they are 

 easily known : stems long and slender, but not well proportioned, 

 bark very thin, a scarcity of branches and foliage, with few 

 fibrous roots weak and badly developed. Plants of this kind 

 should be avoided ; as also those affected by fungi, aphides, 

 caterpillars, and beetles, as change of soil and situation may 

 only spread diseased conditions. The situation of plantation and 

 nursery should be considered. Taking plants from a low-lying, 

 w^ell-sheltered nursery and placing them upon an exposed site is a 

 great mistake. The sudden change affects them greatly ; the sap 

 circulation is checked, and the leaves are unable to perform their 

 proper functions. For high-lying situations, Scots fir should be 2 

 year seedlings, 1 year transplants, well-rooted with short stout 

 stems and foliage in proportion ; the larch, 1 year seedlings, 1 year 

 transplants, and hardwood not over 16 inches high. In moderately 

 sheltered sites, the Scots fir, 2 year seedlings, 2 year transplants ; 

 and larch, 2 year seedlings, 1 year transplants, with hardwood 

 from 2 to 3 feet high. In well-sheltered situations, the Scots fir 

 and larch might be one year older, but should be transplanted 

 twice. Very small plants would not suit on a site of this nature, 

 as the rank grasses and weeds would choke them up before they 

 could get established ; and the labour of keeping them clear of 

 such for two or three years, would be more than the extra price 

 paid for a larger size at the nursery. Hardwood trees could be used 

 here as high as 4 or 5 feet. The great cost of plants and planting 

 in those parts of the kingdom where the climate is very moist, and 

 the natural herbage grows rank and tall, is accounted for by the 

 necessity planters are under for using large several times transplanted 

 trees. 



