THE ARBORETUM. 8l 



species for different places. Frosty hollows should be avoided 

 when planting most of the exotic trees, even though the soil 

 may be quite suitable for their development. The common 

 spruce, even, often suffers from frost. Early autumn and late 

 spring frost cause thousands of pounds worth of damage every 

 year. Therefore, in planting our miniature Kew Gardens, we 

 must first of all find out the class of soil that we have to deal 

 with ; secondly, find out the hollows where frost is likely 

 to do damage, and avoid them ; thirdly, see what natural 

 shelter can be obtained for the protecton of the less hardy 

 species from the prevailing wind. 



Shelter. — A wood or plantation, even if on an adjoining 

 property, should be taken advantage of for this. In the absence 

 of any such shelter from sharply rising ground, it would be 

 necessary to plant a shelter-belt on the side from which the 

 roughest winds come. This could be composed of beech, 

 hornbeam, Austrian pine or Scots pine mixed. The trees 

 forming the shelter-belt should be planted about 4 feet apart 

 in the lines, the width of the belt being from 16 to 20 feet. 

 This belt should preferably be formed a few years previous 

 to the planting of the trees in the collection, so that it will 

 be of sufficient height to protect these more valuable species. 



Seed. — If the proprietor wished to rear his young trees from 

 seed, the seed could be sown in the same year as the planting 

 of the shelter-belt. This, although very interesting, entails 

 a lot of work and care in tending the young seedlings, and, 

 given a fair amount of success, the sower would have too many 

 of each sort for his purpose, even with the smallest quantity 

 of seed obtainable from the seedsmen. It would, I think, be 

 more advisable to buy two or three good, healthy transplants 

 of each variety, which had been lined out in the nursery 

 at a distance suitable to the formation of well-formed specimen 

 trees. I say two or three, because it is as well to have a second 

 or third specimen handy in a temporary nursery in case of 

 death. 



Size of P/ants.— The size of plants at certain ages will vary 

 with the species. Plants from 2 to 3 feet high for conifers, 

 and rather larger for deciduous trees, will be perhaps the best 

 sizes to plant out. Larger trees are more difficult to move, 

 and they will be longer in starting away in their new position. 

 The plants should have good fibrous roots. 



VOL. XXVII. PART I. F 



