Forest Work for the Month. 575 



leaf-mould. Afterwards cut back freely, and do not allow water to 

 stagnate near it. Brush hedges upwards with a very keen bill. The 

 switching bill is preferable to the shears. 



Where old trees are considered worth preserving, remove all dead 

 branches, and open out a trencli all round them, cutting away the 

 ends of the larger roots, laying drains to carry off water, and after- 

 wards fill up with rich compost. Also remove the turf around tlie 

 stems, loosen the soil, and mulch with the same compost. 



A comparison of the prices obtained for the various lots of under- 

 wood, aided by a close observation of the species which have flourished 

 or failed in the plantation, will now enable the forester to arrive at 

 some decision as to the desirability of fiUuig up or entirely replanting 

 certain of the poorest quarters. 



Pluchleij, Kent. A. J. Burrows. 



SCOTLAND. 



December being one of the best months in the year for felling tim- 

 ber, no time should be lost in setting about that duty, if not already 

 commenced. Those foresters who have to supply a home sawmill 

 with all kinds of wood for buildings, fencings, cartmaking, and other 

 purposes, should find out what particular kinds are likely to be re- 

 quired during the year and regulate their cutting accordingly. As a 

 rule, no wood should lie in the uncut state longer than a year, for if 

 it does so it not only loses in quality, but in some instances is attacked 

 by an insidious fungus which generates premature decay. Every 

 woody ard, therefore, should get a complete overhaul once a year, so 

 as to keep a supply of fresh serviceable timber always in stock, and 

 to have it well seasoned and in the best state for use when wanted. 

 It is of great importance when carting in the wood not only to keep 

 the different kinds of trees together, but, also as far as possible, to lay 

 the different sizes by themselves, by so-doing the saw-miller can put 

 his hand at once on what is wanted, instead of searching perhaps for 

 a single tree throughout a large pile of wood that has been thrown in- 

 discriminately together. Great care should also be taken to keep the 

 wood clean, both in lifting it in the forest and also keeping it well up 

 from the ground by means of bearers in the yard, because, when cut- 

 ting it up a hundred revolutions of the saw in a dirty tree will do it 

 far more damage than three hours' work in clean wood. This work 

 has been rendered all the more difficult, from the almost incessant 

 rain which has fallen throughout the country, and in all probability 

 the carting of timber will have to lie over until dry or frosty weather 

 sets in, 



