THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS, 103 
are ripe on the old plants ; and when done about this time it leaves 
the roots ina weaker condition than when done in winter. 
Long, rank heather will also require burning off, and this should 
be done three or four years before planting, if possible, as short 
heather is beneficial to the young plants by protecting them from 
the sun and frost. 
Long grass must also be removed at or before the time of 
planting, where it has formed a close matted turf. Such turf 
intercepts and appropriates both dew and gentle rain, and none 
but the heaviest rains penetrate it, therefore plants inserted in it 
by notching invariably die in the event of a dry summer suc- 
ceeding the planting season, especially in light dry soils. This 
is best removed some time before planting, so that the soil may 
be well soaked and softened by rain. The turf should be entirely 
removed with a spade, leaving a bare space about 9 inches square 
on the site intended for the plant, and if the soil is broken up at 
the same time, so much the better. 
On dry, heathy ground, a dry inflammable sort of peat often 
gathers on the surface, which is very unfavourable for nourishing 
most plants, and in which trees never thrive until their roots have 
reached the soil beneath. Where such exists, it must be removed 
in the same way as the turf, unless it is too deep to be removed 
in that way, when the subsoil should be brought to the surface, 
and spread over the ground to a depth of six inches or so, 
which will be sufficient to grow Scots fir and birch. Although 
it may be too expensive a process for carrying out on a large scale, 
yet it is not more so than planting such ground without any pre- 
paration, with the result that the plants never grow into anything 
larger than a stunted bush. Peat of the same description, but 
wet instead of dry, is equally unfavourable to healthy growth, 
and must be treated in the same way, providing, of course, that 
the subsoil is capable of growing timber, as if not, the ground 
had better remain unplanted. Brambles, thorns, brackens, and 
all other rubbish must be cut, and cleared off the ground before 
planting commence, so that nothing may interfere with the pro- 
gress of the work. 
Choice of Plants. 
This is one of the most important and difficult questions which 
the forester has to decide when forming a plantation, for although 
comparatively easy to choose species that will grow and make cover, 
