Establishment and Tending of Timber Plantations 153 



it dries out altogether and allowed to lie fallow during the winter. 

 Before planting in the following summer as soon as steady rains 

 have set in, the ground must be cross-ploughed and harrowed to 

 bring it to a proper tilth. In the winter rainfall areas the seasons 

 are reserved and the first preparation should then take place to- 

 wards the end of the rainy season, and the second just prior to 

 planting at the commencement of the following winter. 



4. Raising the Young Crop. 



Trees may be established either by setting out plants raised 

 in a nursery or else by sowing the seeds direct in the land. The 

 latter method can, however, be used with certainty only in certain 

 localities where the climatic conditions are favourable, where the 

 seed of the species being sown is comparatively cheap, and when 

 germination can be relied upon. The various kinds of wattles 

 and some of the pines, e.g. P.pinaster, can be raised in this 

 manner. The best time to sow in situ is when steady rains have 

 commenced to fall. The seed coats of wattles are very hard, 

 and such seeds should have boiling water poured on them and be 

 left to soak for 24 hours till soft enough to be cut with the thumb- 

 nail. In situ sowings may be carried out either broadcast, in 

 lines, or in spots, and wherever practised now the Department 

 finds the latter method the most economical. In spot sowings 

 a few seeds are placed in the same spot at the required espace- 

 ment, care being taken to place each seed in the spot a few inches 

 from the other. This facilitates weeding out later on and dis- 

 turbs the root system of the seedling left to form part of the crop 

 to a much lesser extent and allows of those uprooted to be utilised 

 for filling blanks. 



Raising plants in a nursery or purchasing transplants from the 

 nearest Government Nursery will, however, be found the safest 

 method. Transplants in trays containing about 25 plants each 

 are sold from the Government Nurseries at a price of approxi- 

 mately 6s. per hundred, and the Department issues a Price List 

 giving further information on the subject. For the guidance of 

 those anxious to carry out the operation for themselves the Depart- 

 ment issues two Bulletins on the subject, viz. : " The Propagation 



