THE FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS ON DEEP PEAT. 75 



been sufficiently drained, neither were the drains cut early 

 enough to take away the .excessive moisture ; and secondly, the 

 winter which followed planting was very severe. Later in 

 summer it became evident that something should be done to 

 replace the dead plants and to bring the land into a better state, 

 by making more drains. The Belgian system of planting was 

 suggested, and draining operations were at once begun, and 

 completed before the end of November at a cost of jP^2, 6s. 8d. 

 per acre. The drains were made at a distance of 6 feet apart, 

 and were i8 inches wide and lo inches deep. The inverted 

 turfs were left to decay during the winter, and by the late spring 

 they were in excellent condition for planting. The plants used 

 were 3-year-old Norway spruce, raised in seed-beds at Pollok, 

 and lined one year in the Fersit nursery. They were planted 

 out in April. Two handfuls of coarse sand were put in along 

 with the roots of each plant. Since then the plants have made 

 steady progress ; the death rate has hardly reached i %. 



During the autumn of 1908 a strip 3 acres in extent, running 

 along the railway side, had also been drained. The peat averaged 

 8 feet in depth, and was of first class quality. The Belgian 

 method of draining had been employed at a cost of ;^2, 6s. 8d. 

 per acre. The drains were cut 6 feet apart, 18 inches wide and 

 10 inches deep, and then this piece was left over till April 1909, 

 when planting was begun on the inverted turf at a cost of i6s. 8d. 

 per acre. The greater part of this was planted with 3-year-old 

 Sitka spruce and the remainder with Picea Omorika. Both 

 species were raised at Pollok, and lined one year in the Fersit 

 nursery. At the beginning of autumn a close examination was 

 made, and it was observed that all the plants had made a very 

 short growth, but happily all were alive. 



The following season they made a good vigorous growth and 

 looked very well, again next summer they grew much better, but 

 before the autumn came many of them got very yellow, owing 

 to the fact that by this time the roots had made their way through 

 the inverted turf, and penetrated the wet peat that had evidently 

 not been sufficiently drained. Steps were at once taken to 

 remove the excessive moisture, and the drains were dug to a 

 depth of 20 inches at a cost of ^£2, 8s. per acre. The material 

 from the drains was spread over the whole surface among the 

 young trees, like a top dressing, and before the end of the 

 following summer the effect of this deepening could easily be 



