72 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and if the holes thus made in the ground have been carefully 
levelled, an excellent seed-bed is produced at such places. A 
practice which cannot be too highly recommended, both on account 
of its efficacy and cheapness, is that of allowing swine to run in 
the wood during the summer, autumn, and winter of a seed year. 
These creatures grub up the ground, spread the heaps of dead 
leaves, destroy enormous numbers of grubs and mice, and in 
various ways prove extremely useful. Even in beech or oak woods, 
where one would expect them to destroy considerable quantities of 
fruit, they are found to do far more good than harm. 
In the case of woods consisting of light-demanding trees, ¢.g., 
Scots pines, larch, etc., where it has not been necessary to under- 
take any advance fellings—that is to say, where the seed felling 
has been the first felling of all, the surface of the ground is 
generally provided with a thick covering of moss or grass, which 
must be partly removed before successful germination can be looked 
for. If horse implements, such as ploughs, harrows, or grubbers, 
can be worked it is sufficient to scarify the ground in narrow lines 
about 3 feet apart ; but if, as is oftener the case, the nature of the 
ground does not admit of horse labour, there is no help for it but 
to remove the mossy or grassy covering in stripes or patches by 
hand labour, with the aid of rakes, hoes, spades, or mattocks. 
Where one has to deal merely with moss, raking is quite sufficient, 
the preparation of an acre requiring four or five days. If heavy 
hoes or mattocks must be employed (and these must be resorted to 
when an actual sward of grass is present), the expense mounts up 
rapidly, as it may take ten to twenty days to prepare an acre, the 
time depending on the amount of preparation deemed necessary, as 
well as upon the nature of the situation. Where ploughs can be 
used, and if single furrows be turned at distances of 3 feet, at least 
two acres may be overtaken in a day. 
In the case of the lighter seeds, those of the pines, firs, larch, 
birch, ete., no covering is necessary, and consequently, if deemed 
advisable, the preparation of the ground and the felling and drag- 
ging of the timber and branches may be completed before the seed 
is shed ; but where one is dealing with large seeds, such as those of 
the oak, beech, or chestnut, some covering must be provided. This 
may be obtained by raking the surface with heavy rakes imme- 
diately after the seed has fallen, which of course adds considerably 
to the expenses of regeneration ; but in practice it is found better, if 
possible, to delay the preparation of the surface by raking, ploughing, 
