Preparing Ground for Planting. 



By lewis BAYXE, Foresteb, Kixmel Park. 



In most kinds of soils it is useful, and in many cases it is necessary 

 to prepare ground intended to be planted by draining, trenching, 

 ploughing, or picking, according to circumstances, in order to insure 

 success. Where the ground is naturally dry, light, and friable, such 

 preliminary operations may be dispensed with ; and, indeed, farther 

 loo^eaing or draining may, in certain circumstances, be detrimental 

 rather than favourable to the plants. But where the soil is stiff, 

 damp, and hard, something ought to be done in the way of prepara- 

 tion, if at all practicable and not too expensive, before the plants 

 are committed to the soil. If this is not done the likelihood is 

 that numbers of the plants will die out, and require to be renewed, 

 while those that do survive will be so long in taking proper root, 

 that some years may elapse before any appreciable progress is made. 

 In this way the ultimate actual loss is often much more than the 

 original cost of all the preliminary preparations necessary, and the 

 result is almost always unsatisfactory when several years' growth 

 has been virtually lost. In the case of high-lying rough ground, 

 however, and on steep hill-sides, and especially where large tracks 

 of such ground are intended for planting, trenching, or ploughing, is 

 often quite impracticable, and preparation in this way would, though 

 practicable, frequently cost too much to admit of its being carried 

 out. But in such circumstances where the soil is stiff and heavy, or 

 rests on a crust or pan at no great depth, even picking and 

 loosening the soil at the places where the different plants are to be 

 inserted will greatly increase the chances of their taking root and 

 thriving. Such a preparation would not add much to the original 

 cost, and the ultimate saving in labour, plants, and time would 

 probably be considerable. 



It will thus be seen that the special circumstances of each case 

 require to be studied and decided upon. Deep ploughing, or 

 ploughing and subsoiling, are means that may be resorted to with 

 advantage in many varieties of soil, and M-here the planting is to be 

 on a moderate scale. The advantage to be thereby gained will 

 appear not only in the saving of plants and labour, but also in 

 securing the after growth of the young trees. If the ground is 

 ploughed and loosened to a depth of fifteen or eighteen inches, and 



