82 SUITABLE DISTANCES FOR 



Norway spruce, and may be planted at the same distance apart, or 

 at 8 to 9 feet apart, with, common spruce or larch as nurses. This 

 latter course is recommended on account of the superior quality of 

 the Douglas pine timber, and the expense of the plants over the 

 spruce fir, thus placing it in the same position as a hardwood tree, 

 using the others as nurses. 



Silver fir being more hardy than the common spruce, may be 

 extended to more exposed situations, and planted at a distance of 

 3 \ feet apart ; in good soils and sheltered situations at 4| feet apart. 



The writer's experience in growing other varieties of coniferous 

 trees is too limited to warrant his remarking upon them specifically, 

 or at any length, as he has done with the more common varieties. 

 Most of those which have been planted in this country are princi- 

 pally confined to the Pinetum, or pleasure ground, or as orna- 

 mental specimens in plantations. In few instances have they, to 

 any great extent, been planted for profit, but rather as a trial 

 of their hardiness in standing the winters and climate of Great 

 Britain, and to prove whether they are worthy of being ranked 

 amongst first-class timber trees. 



Only one or two general observations fall now to be made. 

 When planted in a moderate soil and sheltered situation, the 

 Corsican pine {Finns laricio) is one of the best conifers for 

 attaining, from its erect habit and fast growth, a good size 

 before thinning ; but the larch is most valuable when young in 

 this country, in consequence, perhaps, of the quality of its timber 

 being better known than that of the Corsican pine. 



Poplars, without nurses of the fir tribe, may, from their fastness of 

 growth, be planted at a greater distance apart, and be more remun- 

 erative, from their first thinnings, than any of o\xr hardwood trees. 



In planting hardwood trees, it is preferable to place them at as 

 wide distances apart as the circumstances of the case will allow, 

 and to fill in the spaces with coniferous trees ; for when hard- 

 wooded frees are cut down, in the case of thinning, their roots send 

 forth numerous shoots in the shape of underwood, while the roots 

 themselves continue to grow, and draw the noui'ishment from the 

 soil, thus impoverishing the trees left growing. 



The following schedule shows, in a detailed tabular form, the 

 distances apart at which the various kinds of trees referred to 

 may be planted in certain circumstances. The altitudes are dis- 

 tinguished as follows: low, 30Q. -fett and under; medium, 300 

 feet to 700 feet \ and high, above 700 feet : 



