456 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



require would cost more than the price charged for another year's 

 keep in the nursery. It is, however, evident that, in a great 

 number of cases, Scots fir and larch, two year-two year and 

 older, are being planted on ground where two years' seedlings 

 would do equally well and probably better. Most foresters are 

 aware of the fact that the smaller the plants are when put out 

 into their permanent situation, the more chance there is of the 

 plantation turning out a success, provided always that the surface 

 of the ground is suitable for their reception. I refer more par- 

 ticularly to the family of conifers. Strong, two years' seedling 

 plants of Scots fir, for instance, can easily be bought for 6s. per 

 1000, while the same plants, two years later, would cost 18s. or 

 20s. For this reason, among others, I am a strong advocate 

 of immediately restocking ground which has been newly felled, 

 particularly if the old crop were such as to leave the surface 

 comparatively bare of herbage. A cheaper class of plants can 

 then be used, les3 labour is required for planting, and they have 

 the chance of being firmly established in the ground before weeds 

 or grass can injure them. 



On an estate where large quantities of hardwoods are planted 

 annually, I have found it a good plan to prepare pits for these 

 early in the autumn. This practice, I know, is condemned by 

 the author of "The New Forestry," but in my experience it has 

 always proved most successful. I admit that all soils are not 

 adapted for this method, such as wet ground where the pits 

 would get filled with water, or stony ground where the scant soil 

 is apt to get washed away by heavy rain ; but I hold that, in 

 most cases, there is nothing to justify a forester in not following 

 this procedure. When the planting season begins, it is an 

 immense advantage to have the ground so prepared that the 

 plants can be put into their places immediately they are brought 

 on to it. Besides which, the larger number of trees which can 

 be planted in a season under this plan forms of itself a sufficient 

 reason for its being given a fair trial. 



Piece-Work versus Daily Labour. 



In considering how best to lessen his annual working expenses, 

 the forester should give his careful attention to the relative 

 advantages derived from executing certain classes of work by the 

 piece or by the day's pay. Some localities lead t leauelves to one 



