PLANTING BY THE SEA-SIDE. 



563 



ter; and Art, therefore, has to use her ut- 

 most exertions to compensate for the want 

 of that encouragement. 



3. So difficult is the work of maritime 

 planting, that, in addition to the land being 

 well prepared, and the best season chosen, 

 there must be shelter created ; and this 

 should be done in two'Avays — as an outside 

 work, by erecting a strong high fence of 

 furze bundles, or brushwood, around the 

 plantation, and by planting the young trees 

 very close to each other, leaving only about 

 a space of eighteen inches between them. 

 At this rate, 19,000 plants will be required 

 for every acre of land. 



4. Cleaning the land for two years is all- 

 important. The best plan is to take a crop 

 of carrots or parsnips from the land the first 

 year ; and this will pay all the expenses of 

 hoeing, &c., and do no injury to the trees. 



The next point is to select the kinds of 

 trees best suited for such a situation ; for, 

 if this should be neglected, the other in- 

 structions, as a matter of course, would 

 be rendered useless. 



The first deciduous tree adapted to the 

 situation under consideration, is the Nor- 

 folk Black Sallow, a variety of the Salix 

 caprea, thought by some to be peculiar to 

 Norfolk : it is a most determined grower, 

 even close to the water, and a tree which 

 attains to a large size. In the parish of 

 Runton, in the neighborhood of the sea, is 

 a specimen which, at four feet from the 

 ground, is nine and a half feet in circum- 

 ference. It was the appearance of this 

 tree, in such a situation, which led to slips 

 of it being tried in the plantations above 

 referred to. The quality of the wood of 

 the Sallow is by no means first rate ; and 

 it is rather recommended as a nurse to 

 others here mentioned, than as fit to occu- 

 py the ground permanently. However, in 

 some maritime situations, any sort of tree 



would be gladly accepted, and, as it is not 

 devoid of beauty, it should be planted 

 where those of a better texture do not 

 thrive. It will give some idea of the vigor 

 with which this tree proceeds, when I state 

 that, after the second year, it throws up 

 shoots an inch and a half in diameter at the 

 bottom ; and, if trained to a single stem, it 

 will become a tree twenty feet high., in four 

 years. Slips or cuttings are quite equal to 

 rooted plants, and there is a great saving 

 in carriage in ordering the tree in the for- 

 mer shape. 



The next best deciduous tree is the Black 

 Italian Poplar, which may be readily ob- 

 tained of any nurseryman. It is late in 

 leafing, and to this circumstance, I think, 

 is to be attributed its "success in the situa- 

 tions under consideration. 



The Scotch Elm forms a noble addition 

 to the few trees suited to grow by the sea- 

 side. On untrenched soil this plant be- 

 comes bark-bound, and covered with lich- 

 en ; but, where its roots have liberty, it 

 grows very rapidly. 



The Alder is also to be recommended in 

 plantations adjacent to the sea. Damp or 

 swampy land is usually planted with Alders, 

 and it is sometimes thought that it delights 

 ohly in such soil ; it is found, however, to 

 grow luxuriantly in dry places, where the 

 soil is loosened to the depth of two feet. 



The Birch, Larch, and Ash do not al- 

 ways refuse to grow by the sea; and, with 

 the aid of the Sallow for a few years to start 

 them, I have found they succeed very well. 



Amongst evergreens, the best tree is the 

 Pinus Pinasier minor, a more robust grow- 

 er than the common Pinaster, with shorter 

 and thicker foliage. It is plentiful in the 

 extensive Pinaster plantations of Jack Pe- 

 tre, Esq., Westwick, Norfolk, and it is there 

 called i\ie false Pine, the common Pinaster 

 being termed the true Pine. 



