770 FOREST WORK FOR THE MONTH. [April 



SCOTLAND. 



PLANTING. — Any planting that still remains unfinished had 

 better be done at once. According to ancient dictum, no 

 planting should be done later than April, nor sooner than September. 

 In other words, should only be done in those months having in tliem 

 the letter K, and not in any of those months without said letter. 



This is prominently the month of the year in which the forester 

 requires to keep both eyes open. All ligatures, wires, or anything 

 tied round trees should be examined and slackened. 



Attention should be paid to all fencing, particularly that done by 

 farmers where trees are growing, to see that no nails or staples are 

 driven into them, and when such is found they should at once be 

 carefully withdrawn, and the offender spoken to about it in a 

 friendly way, and the injury done explained and pointed out so as 

 to prevent a repetition. 



Fences and Gates of all kinds should be examined and put into 

 good repair before the stock is turned out. Inattention to this is 

 often the occasion of much future labour and trouble ; for if once 

 animals find their way through fences, they are difficult to restrain 

 afterwards. 



As the month advances the sap will liow, and peeling may be 

 done, beginning with the larch, willows, alder, and finally ending 

 with the oak. For all rustic purposes, where the wood is to be used, 

 the sooner the peeling is done the better, both for preserving a 

 fine smooth clean surface before the cambium begins to form, and 

 also for the quality of the bark, which is best when early peeled. 



The squirrel must now be strictly watched, and war declared 

 against him. Interesting though they are in all their gambols, 

 movements, and antics, yet they must be killed wheresoever they can 

 be got at, and by whatever means or expense, for they are empha- 

 tically next to the rabbit the forester's greatest pest. 



All hedge- pruning should be finished forthwith, and any failures 

 not yet made up should be so at once. 



Winter-cut timber and wood of all sorts should be collected to 

 the timber-yard or sawmill. 



Heath, too, for thatching or other purposes should be cut, 

 bundled, and stacked, dry for future use. 



Osiers, or willows, not yet cut should be done at once, and 

 placed in water in the usual way, thereby preparing them for 

 peeling. 



Nursery work of all kinds should be kept well in hand, seed- 

 sowing prepared for, grafts looked to, transplanting done, and the 

 endless little things attended to. 



