NOTES OF SILVICULTURAL INTEREST. 1 77 



fully carried out with very little expenditure, by enclosing (with 

 a rabbit-proof fence) say 2 acres of the most open part of the 

 wood, and planting this with 1-2 year seedlings of spruce, 

 silver and Douglas fir, at 2^ to 3 feet apart, 13,000 trees or 

 more, sufficient to plant the whole area at 5 to 6 feet apart 

 when the trees are old enough to withstand the attacks of ground 

 game. When the trees have attained a height of 3 to 4 

 feet, they can be thinned out by transplanting with balls of 

 earth attached to their roots. The pits having been previously 

 made, the trees should be carried on hand-barrows, constructed 

 with a frame (two-thirds the height of the trees) all round them, 

 one end being detachable, so that the plants can be put in and 

 taken out more easily. The frame keeps the plants in an 

 upright position, which is of great importance, as were the 

 plants allowed to fall over sideways, the ball of earth, being 

 much heavier than the tree, would be broken and become 

 detached from the root, taking with it the small fibrous roots on 

 which the success of the operation entirely depends. 



The trees should be planted in the open spaces between the 

 old stems at 5 feet apart, the largest and strongest being left 

 standing on the enclosed part at the same distance. It will be 

 found an advantage to have the enclosure on the most exposed 

 side of the plantation, so that when the final transplanting takes 

 place the newly removed trees will have the benefit of the 

 shelter from the firmly established ones remaining. 



Woods underplanted in this manner would repay the cost if it 

 were for nothing else than the benefit to the older trees by having 

 their stems cleaned of side branches.^ It would also form a 

 better game cover, and hold pheasants better than privet, which, 

 from its dampness, is rarely resorted to. 



Regeneration of Beech by Natural Seedlings. — In a good seed- 

 year a very simple plan for stocking a nursery break with beech 

 may be carried out in the following manner very successfully. 

 A piece of ground is selected, and enclosed with i inch mesh 

 wire netting, under one or two good seed-bearing trees. The 

 ground inside this enclosure is dug over roughly to a depth of 

 several inches in September or October before the seed begins 

 to fall. After the seed has fallen, the ground is lightly prodded 

 on the surface, and levelled with an ordinary garden fork to 



^ To secure this object the underplanting should be done earlier, say at the 

 ages of 30 to 50 years. — Hon. Ed. 



