On Planting. 



By ALFRED J. BURROWS, Plvcklet, Kent. 



The operations of the planter may be considered under their three- 

 fold aspects of planting for profit, for shelter, and for ornament. The 

 two former are to some extent identical, and both may be made 

 subservient to the latter, as the line of beauty is generally the line 

 of utility, and the result of strict economy. In the disposition of 

 his trees, and in drawing his line of demarcation, the forester M-ho 

 follows nature will at one effort produce the grandest effects, and 

 realize the maximum amount of profit from his plantations. The 

 natural features of any district, considered in conjunction with 

 climate, soil, and aspect, must fix the limits of its profitable culti- 

 vation as woodland; and when the chemical constituents of the 

 soil, and the degrees of its dryness or humidity are well known to the 

 planter, he stands on a vantage-ground which should enable him to 

 command success. But in assigning his limits, the mattock and 

 spade must not be too much under the control of the square and 

 compasses ; and in his attempts to clothe with verdure the summits of 

 barren and profitless heights, he must occasionally be allowed to 

 obtain a footing in the richer and more fertile valleys below. Thus 

 following the guidance of his instructress, he wdll crown the elevated 

 spots with the larch, beech, birch, and pines of various kinds ; fill his 

 plains and hollows with the chestnut, oak, yew, &c., and give to 

 moist and marshy sport the alder, willow, poplar, spruce, and the 

 ash. At the same time, as a barrier against the winds, he will plant 

 the beech, wych elm, hornbeam, sycamore, and mountain ash, the 

 whole being so gradually blended as to present no harsh outlines. 

 Having first surveyed the scene of his operations geographically, he 

 must next consider it topograpiiically, and in assigning their respective 

 quarters to the different species of plants, be guided by analyses both 

 of the soil and of the ashes of the wood of the trees he intends to 

 propagate. 



The importance of early planting in autumn cannot be overrated. 

 There is much truth in the aphorism — " Plant licfore Martinmas (No- 

 vember 11) and com?»a?if? success : plant after Candlemas and entreat." 

 By an early removal of young trees in the autumn, while the soil is 



