I38i.] EDITORS BOX. 377 



Sir, — I have now had the advantage of reading in the last number 

 of ' PORESTKY ' Mr. Scott's reply to ' Loanleah,' in reference to paring 

 the surface of grassy laud before inserting the plants, and as presum- 

 ably he is one of the ablest advocates and exponents of this method 

 of planting, I conclude that we are now in full possession of its merits. 

 No one will dispute the ' practicability ' of paring, provided the initial 

 cost of planting is not considered ; but to the necessity or utility of it 

 I entirely demur, and it is an unwarrantable assertion to say that the 

 necessity of paring is now very generally admitted by practical men. 

 I can confidently assert that nothing like a moiety of the foresters in 

 Great Britain admit the necessity or practise this method of planting-. 

 This innovation is chiefly confined to a few foresters in the north of 

 Scotland, and without entering the regions of prophecy, I may safely 

 affirm that the practice will never become general. I have tested 

 this method of planting on a variety of soils and situations, and the 

 invariable result was a large percentage of deaths, especially on exposed 

 situations and high altitudes, and in my opinion, and from my 

 experience, it is not only an unnecessary, but a pernicious practice. 

 Heat and moisture are essential to the healthy growth of plants, as 

 every forester will admit, but which the advocates of paring seem to 

 ignore, and to pare off the surface before inserting the trees is to 

 expose them unnecessarily to cold and drought at a time when they 

 stand most in need of shelter and protection. 



I do not think it can be seriously maintained that any herbage — with 

 the exception of bracken — growing at an elevation of from 500 to 1,000 

 feet can appreciably prevent a free circulation of air or prejudicially 

 affect newly-planted trees. On the contrary, I have always found any 

 grassy vegetation most beneficial in protecting the roots of newly- 

 planted trees from the cold and drying winds which we almost 

 invariably experience in the spring months, and likewise in prevent- 

 ing evaporation. 



I have, therefore, arrived at the conclusion that the cure of paring 

 the surface before inserting the plants is emphatically worse than the 

 disease, and it is unbecoming of the advocates of paring to accuse the 

 grass of depriving the plants of nourishment when they are greater 

 offenders in this respect themselves. 



This subject is now tolerably well thrashed out, and I leave it to 

 the judgment of the readers of ' Forestry ' : they can form their own 

 opinions on which side the preponderance of reason and argument lies. 



Bannockburn. 



Sir, — By way of reply to ' Bannockburn's ' letter, wliich appeared 

 in your last issue, permit me to say that, some years ago during. 



