On Planting. 



By ALFRED J. BURROWS, Pi.uckley, Kent. 



(Continued from imgc, 389.) 



In commencing entirely new plantations upon the sea-coast, with a 

 view to affordino- shelter inland, it will in most cases be necessary to 

 erect a tolerably compact fence either of stone — if such can be easily 

 obtained — or of soil. Where the latter is used the mound should be 

 of sufticieut width to take two or three rows of whitethorn upon its 

 summit. If its height be from 4 to C feet, it will to some extent 

 intercept the passage of the saline particles with which the air is 

 charged, and which prove so fatal to vegetation in the earlier stages 

 of its growth. Behind this " lew," or shelter, may be planted well- 

 furnished trees of the cluster pine (Pinus pinaster), which is well 

 adapted for such a situation, as its tap-root penetrates to a great 

 depth in the sand or soil, and sends out strong lateral shoots, from 

 which proceed great numbers of rootlets, so that it soon takes com- 

 plete possession of the ground ; and though it is not adapted to high 

 and exposed situations, it will grow freely upon most parts of our 

 coast. 



In some districts of France, particularly on the coast of Gascony, 

 between the estuaries of the Gironde and Adour, it has been suc- 

 cessfully used for fixing the dunes, or moving sandbanks, which were 

 rapidly encroaching upon the land. For this purpose its seeds are 

 sown in connection with those of the broom and furze. Its wood 

 has proved to be so valuable that it is now extensively used in the 

 south of France and in souie parts of Spain for railway sleepers, and 

 found to be very durable. In its natural habitat (in warm or mild 

 climates) great quantities of resin are drawn from it by tapping, for 

 which purpose the trees are carefully prepared by thinning, and by 

 exposure to as much light and heat as can possibly be obtained. Its 

 branchy nature and bushy habit of growth render it very valuable in 

 the front lines of coast plantations. 



Along with the cluster pine may be planted Norway maple, in the 

 proportion of one to three ; also an admixture of willow, sycamore, 

 abele, evergreen and Turkey oak, and even Austrian pine. The sea- 

 buckthorn and mahonia are also valuable as undergrowths in the front 

 lines. In its native country the Norway maple grows close down to 



