REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF HARDWOOD PLANTATIONS. 375 
so that the planter may have every opportunity of firming the 
plant thoroughly, so as to keep it safely in its position. If this 
be not carefully attended to, the plants are easily shaken about by 
the winds, which process often causes them considerable damage. 
The pits should be filled in on the same day as they are dug. 
Some foresters prefer digging all the pits first, and filling them in 
afterwards. I do not approve of this system, for the reason that 
the holes, by being left open, often get filled with water, especially 
if the season be a wet one. It also impedes the planting opera- 
tions in several ways, which I need not define, and this incurs 
unnecessary expense. 
Every means should be adopted to keep down rank grass and 
weeds. The first and most obvious indication as to treatment in 
this respect is to put the turf cut off in the bottom of the pit 
instead of on the top, as is generally done. Another method is to 
cut the turf in two, and place it upside down. Sometimes, how- 
ever, grass, notwithstanding the efforts that are made to keep it 
down, grows very quickly, and every possible precaution to prevent 
it from obstructing the plants should be resorted to; for unless 
the plants are allowed a sufficiency of light and air, the process of 
assimilation of sap cannot go on. In order to make my meaning 
clear, I shall endeavour to give a brief explanation as to what 
this really means. The elements which enter the leaf are oxygen 
and hydrogen in the form of water, with some earthy matters 
dissolved in it. These constitute what is called crude sap. Then 
the process of assimilation begins. The agents in this are the 
green colouring matter of the leaf and the sun’s rays. The crude 
sap is blended with the carbonic acid gas of the atmosphere, and 
the overplus of oxygen is separated and sent back again into the 
air. Thus a mixture is formed called elaborated sap, which is 
then transformed into cellulose, and passing down the plant, is 
gradually used up in the formation of new cells. 
Distribution.—lf the number of men employed in the planting 
operations be not very large, the distribution should be left to one 
or two reliable men. Whether the different kinds of plants be 
laid out singly or in groups, is, to a great extent, a matter of 
taste. I am, however, inclined to think that the grouping system 
has, if anything, the advantage over the other, inasmuch that it 
leaves us a double chance of distributing the plants on the soil 
best adapted to their growth ; and further, by planting in groups 
the arrangement of colour can be better preserved when thin- 
