176 FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
inches to carry the water off the subsoil, are quite sufficient. So 
far as my brief experience enables me to judge, I am inclined to 
think that the drains ought always to be cut to a greater depth 
than the principal roots of the trees are likely to attain, in order to 
prevent the lodgment of stagnant water about these. On wet 
marshy lands, where water lies sour and fetid, the drains should be 
made about two years before planting, in order to allow them time 
to carry off the deleterious effects of long stagnation. On stiff clay 
Jands, which are of a retentive nature, the drains should be eut at 
10 yards apart. Woodland drains being permanently open, they 
must necessarily be cut to a much greater width at the top than at 
the bottom, otherwise by the action of the weather on them the 
sides would crumble in and the drain be rendered useless. The 
width at the top, therefore, must vary according to the depth of 
the drain, and the width at the bottom to allow the sides to be well 
sloped. On open gravelly lands drains may be cut at 20 yards 
apart ; such land being unretentive, it is undesirable to put the 
drains too close. All woodland drains should be not less than 8 
inches wide at the bottom, to allow of their being easily cleaned 
with an ordinary spade. On moss the drains must be deeper and 
wider than on other lands, to make allowance for the subsidence of 
the soil. All drains should be made not less than six months 
previous to planting, as this gives them some time to act upon the 
soil, and to dispel sourness. The soil cast out of the drains 
should be well broken and scattered lightly over the ground. 
hoad-making.—For the planning and formation of roads the 
best time is previous to the commencement of planting operations. 
At that time the inequalities of the ground are seen to better ad- 
vantage, and are more easily avoided or contended with as may be 
deemed necessary. Further, it will often be found much more con- 
venient to convey material for the bottoming of such roads when 
the ground is bare than it would be if it were under crop. Main 
roads should always be planned to take such a course as is best 
adapted to future convenience. When it is remembered that the 
removal of the crop is the object of their construction, the necessity 
for convenience and efficiency at once suggests itself. From 15 
to 18 feet is the width that such roads are generally made, and 
they should have a bottoming of not less than 10 feet in width. To 
secure and to maintain efficiency these roads must be kept dry, and 
for this purpose a drain must be cut on either side of the road 
from 18 to 24 inches in depth. For the reception of the bottoming 
