178 FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
purpose of keeping out heavy stock, the posts should be all of larch, 
not less than 4 inches in diameter. They should be pitted and 
made firm in the ground with a beater, and they should have not 
less than five wires ; the top and the third or fourth wires being 
heavier than the others, as persons in crossing a wire fence generally 
put their weight on these, besides, the top wire is the most open to 
the attacks of cattle. Fences of a light description are protected by 
having a barbed wire on the top, which proves a very effective 
means of saving them. In wire fencing for sheep, the posts should 
likewise be of larch, but need not be so strong as those used in 
fencing against heavier stock. In this fence the posts may all be 
driven into the ground, with the exception of the straining posts 
which require pitting. It will be necessary to put wires closer 
on this fence to prevent the possibility of sheep or lambs getting 
through it. The most effectual permanent fence for such enclosures, 
however, is a well-built dry-stone dyke, which is rendered even 
more so if the cope be built on with lime. Where material is con- 
venient, this will be found in the long run to be the most economical 
method of enclosing plantations. 
Ground Game.—Ground game is undoubtedly one of the greatest 
enemies that has to be contended with in forming a young planta- 
tion, and the only effectual antidote against their ravages is wire- 
netting. To be effectual, wire-netting should be of 14-inch mesh, and 
not less than 36 inches across the web. It should be erected 4 feet 
within the boundary fence of the enclosure, to be out of reach of the 
cattle from the outside. The netting should be sunk 3 or 4 inches 
in the ground, attached to posts about 5 feet apart, and attached 
at the top to a wire, or wooden rail, stretched along the posts about 
32 or 33 inches from the ground. After the ground has been 
enclosed with this netting, all the game within the enclosure should 
be shot, trapped, or destroyed by any other means that can be 
devised. 
Clearing.—Previous to planting, the ground should be cleared of 
all refuse. Solitary trees should not be allowed to remain, and all 
manner of scrub rooted out and removed or burned. If the ground 
has formerly borne a timber crop, it should be carefully raked, and 
every chip and twig that remains of the previous crop collected and 
burned, as they afford harbourage to destructive insects. 
Planting.—In conveying plants from the nursery to the ground 
enclosed for the future plantation, great care should be taken to 
prevent the roots from being exposed to the air; and as soon as 
