56 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
year or two after cutting up, so as to give the underwood a fair 
start. 
If a piece of cover, such as a heading corner, or a portion of a 
wood that seems well adapted as a preserve for pheasants, is 
required to be specially good, it is advisable to enclose it with wire 
netting for a few years, so as to exclude rabbits and hares. A 
greater variety of plants can then be used in the composition of the 
undercover, and the stuff gets a chance to settle and make a fair 
growth before being molested. 
PLANTING. 
Having completed the preliminary operations, we shall now 
proceed with the planting, which may be carried on any time from 
November to March, according to circumstances. 
The more open spaces which show a good bit of headroom should 
be planted with evergreens of an upright habit of growth, such as 
spruce, Douglas fir, or common yew, and a few Scots fir or other 
varieties of pine. These should stand from 8 to 10 yards apart, 
and if given sufficient headroom they will soon develop and form 
splendid roost and shelter. If grown close they will run up too 
quick, and lose their lower branches at too early an age. 
Common spruce is really the best tree for the purpose, because it 
can be obtained cheap, and generally does pretty well when trans- 
planted into an old plantation, while pheasants are very fond of it 
for roosting. 
Well furnished young plants, about 6 feet high, are the most 
suitable for this purpose, if they can be obtained from young 
plantations on the estate, or from the home-nursery. They ought 
to be lifted, and conveyed carefully to the place of planting, so as 
to have the balls as large as possible. The pits should always be 
dug large enough, in fact, a good deal too large for the present 
requirements of the plants. Large stones and old roots can then 
be disposed of, and the soil will in consequence be rendered more 
favourable for the reception of the rootlets. This rule should be 
insisted on in all cases of underplanting, because it is impossible 
to trench the ground, and large pits are therefore the only 
alternative. When the standards have been planted, the ground 
should be filled up, to about 6 feet apart, with such a mixture of 
covert plants as may be considered most suitable for the position 
and circumstances. 
