252 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
manure applied in the same quantity. A small part received an 
extra amount. The whole area was deeply worked and divided 
into strips 16 inches broad, which were planted. These were 
separated by unplanted strips 28 inches wide. In trenching the 
soil the upper manured layer was turned down and the lower 
layer brought to the surface. The conditions on the manured 
and unmanured layers were otherwise identical. The following 
Table shows the result :— 
MEASUREMENTS IN 1903. 
Plants Six Years Old. Unmanured. | Manured. 
1dipges oho YS ft. ins. 
Total height of largest, : é ay 2 eee 
‘5 a smallest, : ‘ eee 25 tit 
, a plants from middle 
of plantation, \ oP ee Wanda 
Average length of annual shoots, . oO ae I 32 
FS He needles. : o 612 one" 
$ ” lower branches, I 32 Deas Oi 
From the last column of the Table one sees how rapidly the 
cover would be established on the treated area, thereby killing 
out the heather, and keeping the soil in a fresh and favourable 
condition for the future growth of the trees. 
Experiments were first tried in the sandy districts in 
Luxemburg, Holland, and Belgium, and also in Germany. In 
Holland and Luxemburg the matter received most attention. 
In Belgium and Germany the experiments were few and isolated. 
At the present time Belgium has the lead of all other countries. 
Since 1890 the Forest Department has encouraged and sub- 
sidised experiments in this direction. For example, if a Belgian 
community are willing to undertake the afforestation of waste 
lands, the State will cover a fourth to three-fourths of the cost. 
If a community desires to make manurial experiments, it is the 
duty of the State forest officers to help with advice, while the 
State supplies a large proportion of the necessary manure, and 
if the community desires to carry out experiments in their 
forests to clear up certain doubtful points, the State supplies not 
only the manure but also the plants. 
The Belgian Government believes that the success of artificial 
