302 EDITOR'S BOX. LF^b., 



soft, open, porous timber ' (see ' Forestry,' vol. vii., p. 209), is it 

 reasonable to suppose that trees will absorl) it deeper than the corky 

 or lifeless bark i If coal tar contains creosote oil and is poisonous, 

 is naphtha, paraffin, or seal oils less so, to trees ? 



Will some of those who ' take an interest ' in trees, and who hold 

 Mr. Ahlbottn's views, give us the facts which led them to think as 

 he appears to do ? Tae. 



LIME TBEE WOOD. 



Sir, — I shall be glad if any of your readers can inform me whether 

 Lime-tree wood (Linden) is insect proof or not. I have seen it so 

 stated, but can find no authority for it. I intend to use a great deal 

 of it, but wish to know whether it is insect-proof. 



18U, King Street West, Hammersmith, W. E. Longley. 



PLANTING TREES. 



Sti;, — The system advocated l)y Mr. Scott and others, of paring the 

 surface of grassy land before inserthig the plants is, in my opinion, 

 thoroughly wrong. What are the advantages claimed for the system 

 by its advocates and admirers ? Your correspondent ' M. B. ' claims 

 one advantage. He says : 'When the surface is pared, the roots of the 

 plants have a better chance of being effectively covered.' All that 

 need be said in reference to this advantage claimed by ' ]M. B. ' is, that 

 ]ilanting is never done, or at least should never be done, unless under 

 proper supervision, and that the roots of the plants can be inserted in . 

 the soil as efficiently without paring as with it. I cannot therefore 

 concede that paring is any advantage in ensuring the work being more 

 thoroughly done ; while the evils and disadvantages of paring are 

 obvious. The greater part of the land devoted to tree ]»Ianting in 

 this country is of a thin, rocky, unculturable character, and in plant- 

 ing such land, if you pare off the surface there is nothing left to liold 

 a plant. And supposing you to have ample depth of soil, I flunk it 

 is evident that trees planted on an unpared surface can be fixed more 

 firmly, and will consequently withstand storms of wind, and maintain 

 their erect positions better than trees planted on ground denuded of 

 the surface. Anyone connected with planting operations, in going 

 after the break up of a storm over ground recently planted will have 

 observed the notches considerably opened by the action of the frost, 

 and this will occur, however carefully the work may have been done. 

 And this evil in the case of trees planted on the system advocated by 



