TtlE WATTIJj: I'LANTATION 47 



To facilihite the i)lantinj? of the sticky wet seed, it is 

 advised to mix it with soil, sand or ashes, etc. — the latter 

 method hen^' preferable as the ashes may act as a 

 repellant. 



The old method of having the trees standing broad- 

 cast is now fortunately beino- abandcmed in favour of the 

 row system, which is a great improvement. But as to 

 the distance betw^een the I'ows there is still a great 

 difference of oijinion. While the latest advice is to plant 

 the trees in rows twelve feet apart, many growers still 

 have the rows originally 6 to 8 ft, and after a few years, 

 take out every other row. This ensures some return in 

 bark and gives the remaining trees more room for further 

 development. This practice is however to be condemned 

 from an entoinological point of view for the following 

 reasons : — 



The closer the rows the less room for cultivation of 

 the soil between them. Cultivation can only b? done 

 up to a certain distance from the base of the trees 

 and after the removal of the middle row the stumps 

 remaining prevent this central part from being worked. 

 Cultivation, especially if done in late fall or early spring, 

 will throw up and expose a great number of larvne and 

 pupae of such insects as feed on the roots of the trees, 

 especially of the various species of cockchafers, which 

 are then near the surface ready for emergence in 

 November. 



The mass of brushwood and stumps cannot be burned 

 as this would endanger the plantation and is thus left 

 lying. These dead branches and stumps soon attract a 

 host of wood boring insects, and these breed there to 

 the danger of the standing trees. We have bred several 

 species from such material, which have been found to 

 infest the living trees later. 



The presence of this brushwood and stumps effective- 

 ly prevents the manipulation of any apparatus which 

 might eventually be used for the control of the insects 

 on the remaining trees. 



