136 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORIBULTURAL SOCIETY. 
As regards the method of planting, the common L notch is the 
one usually practised, and is a reliable enough system of putting 
in plants of a small size, which should not exceed 12 inches in 
height for larch, and from 4 to 8 inches for Scots fir. The 
difference between a bad and a well-made “notch” is of very great 
importance, and almost amounts to the life or death of the plant. 
After the plant has been carefully inserted, the cut should be 
completely closed by treading with the foot, taking special care 
not to break the bark in the process, for it is very probable 
that the beginning of disease in many a larch was the reckless 
“heeling” it was subjected to at the time of planting. 
In forming the outlines of exposed plantations, acute angles 
at the corners, and concave bends in the sides should be care- 
fully avoided, as both tend to let the wind into the body of 
the plantation. 
II. Planting to provide shelter in exposed situations.—Wind 
attains its greatest velocity on wide uninterrupted plains, and 
although these are seldom far above the sea-level, shelter-belts 
are none the less necessary, and in such places they are com- 
paratively easy to rear. Oa exposed hill-sides, however, shelter 
raising is a difficult and slow process, yet it is a most necessary 
one for the wellbeing of the stock that has to subsist thereon, 
and means, when successfully grown, a considerable advance of - 
rent for that particular grazing. One great obstacle to successful 
and rapid growth for shelter is the fact that the site to be 
planted is often at an altitude where hardwood trees will not 
grow, and sometimes much above the level of larch growth. 
A close fence on the wind-swept side is the first and most 
important point to attend to, and as stones are generally plentiful 
in such places, this can be raised quickly and at a moderate cost 
by building a stone wall, and the higher the better. Failing a 
supply of stones, a stout wall of turf should be built as a means 
of breaking the wind. All natural growth, such as birch, 
mountain ash, broom, whin, and the like, should be encouraged 
to cover the ground, and where these are not plentiful they 
should be planted artificially in order to strengthen the plantation. 
Scots fir takes the first place among conifers for such planting, 
and here again large plants should be avoided, although immedi- 
ately behind the sheltering fence plants of moderate size may 
be used, but gradually diminishing their height as the distance 
from the fence increases, to make a gradual drop for the wind as 
