THE BEST METHOD OF PLANTING AT HIGH ALTITUDES. 39 



a portion of the ground has been pitted at distances of 3 feet 

 apart, a few of the hands are started with spades to notch plants 

 into the prepared pits. I find it answers very well to have both 

 pitting and planting proceeding at the same time, because, in 

 the event of a spell of frost, or of frost during the night and 

 early morning with a thaw later in the day, pitting can be 

 carried on when planting has to be given up, as where there 

 is a thick turf or other herbage on the ground, the frost takes 

 longer to penetrate into the soil. Some people may consider 

 the above method of notching into prepared pits very costly ; 

 but I can assure them that on steep ground such as that which 

 is being planted here, it will be found cheaper in the end than 

 simply notching the plants into the turf. 



I have experimented with both systems on the same ground, 

 and the difference in the rate of growth has been so marked 

 that I am convinced that, for this reason alone, the method of 

 planting into prepared pits well repays the extra initial expense 

 incurred by it. But this is not its only advantage, as I have 

 found that the combined cost of planting and of filling up 

 death vacancies in " simple notch " planting exceeded the cost 

 of " pit and notch " planting, under which method, provided 

 that the work is properly done and only healthy plants are used, 

 there should be no deaths, or the percentage of them should be 

 so trifling as not to necessitate the filling up of the vacancies. 



Planting in prepared pits has many other advantages over 

 notching into the turf; the paring off of the turf permits every 

 shower of rain to penetrate into the soil, and also forms a trap 

 for any rain that may run down the surface of the hillside, 

 which, if covered with a thick turf, does not readily absorb the 

 rain, but simply allows it to run off like water from a duck's 

 back, and it is not until after several days' continuous rain that 

 the turf becomes completely saturated. Again, in the case of 

 a drought, the evaporation is greater from the turf than from 

 the prepared pits ; and further, there is less danger in the 

 latter of the plants becoming smothered by rank herbage, 

 and greater facilities for cleaning operations are afforded, as 

 the pits are readily distinguishable for at least two seasons 

 after planting. 



In many parts of our planting areas the ground is very craggy 

 and stony, planting with the spade being entirely out of the 

 question ; and here again the planting mattock, which we always 



