156 TRANSACTION'S OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In these species, 2-year i-year plants certainly give the best result 

 at 1300 feet. On lower ground, 2-year seedlings would no doubt 

 succeed. The operation of planting, though perfectly easy, 

 requires care, and I have discovered startling differences in 



Fig. I. 



comparing the work of different planters. Each planter pro- 

 ceeds along a line of turfs, so it is easy to distinguish his work 

 and compare it with that of the man on each side of him. In 

 making such comparisons, I found that in the case of Norway 

 spruce, the failures varied from 4 per cent, for a good planter 

 to 48 per cent, for a bad one, and in the case of Scots pine 

 from o per cent, to 33 per cent. The men were all new to this 

 kind of planting and, I believe, were all doing their best, but 

 their skill varied. The roots of 2-year seedlings are very fragile 

 and require careful handling. In the case of Scots pine our 

 percentage of blanks, 17 per cent., is large, but I attribute the 

 heavy death rate partly to imperfect planting and partly to the 



