7© TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Pitting versus Notching. — What we are generally told about 

 notch planting is that it is cheaper than pitting, and that it is 

 more suitable for planting rough hill-sides. Certainly it is 

 cheaper to begin with, as the figures which invariably accompany 

 this statement show ; but if the number of deaths which follow 

 during the next three years were to be given, very few notched 

 plantations would be found to be cheaper in the long-run than 

 pitted ones. Professor Schwappach, in Vol. XVII. of the 

 Transactions, mentions an area which he saw in Scotland, 

 where 60 per cent, of the plants were dead. Of course we 

 must suppose that the plants were small and did not cost more 

 than 5s. per 1000, but when more than half had to be replaced, 

 and this perhaps for two years or more after the plantation was 

 first made, then one wonders where the cheapness comes in. 



The number of deaths which result from notch planting, 

 especially on steep mountain land, is not due alone to the method 

 of planting, but rather that the plant is denied the nourishment 

 so necessary to its existence. The rain falls only to run off on 

 the surface without penetrating to the roots of the plant, and 

 although some may find its way down through the recently 

 closed slits, it is at once absorbed by the closely matted roots of 

 grass or heath. Perhaps the best method for planting mountain- 

 ous land is pit planting with the mattock. The handle of the 

 mattock is 3^ feet long, and the broad end, which is shaped 

 much like an adze, and can readily skim off the most matted 

 surface, is 16 inches long, the pointed or pick end is 17 inches 

 long, and is used to loosen the soil to the required depth, or to 

 break through the moorpan where this may be encountered. 

 The sod when stripped off is laid back to the lower end of the 

 pit, and the undersoil picked up and pulled slightly outwards. 

 The planting operation can be readily performed with an 

 ordinary garden trowel. The trowel is inserted into the soil in the 

 middle of the pit, and drawn towards the planter with the right 

 hand, the roots of the plant are then inserted with the left hand, 

 and the soil is allowed to fall back, the plant is then given a 

 slight shake so as to bring the roots into their natural position, 

 the rest of the soil is then filled in and firmed with the foot, 

 leaving the outer edge of the pit always highest so as to catch 

 and retain the moisture. One man can plant to two, and on 

 very bad ground to three men making the pits. The advantage 

 of this method over notch planting is, that the plant gets a 

 sufficient supply of moisture for its wants. 



