46 THE LARCH. 



Trenching is sometimes adopted and well thought 

 of by some as the most perfect and commendable pre- 

 paration of the ground for planting. It is not likely, 

 however, to become a general practice, if for no other 

 reason than the expense, which is seldom less than 

 £8 per acre. 



Manures of all kinds should be carefully avoided in 

 plantations, and if it be found necessary at any time 

 to plant poor moorland, it should be done with only 

 one species of tree, as larch, Scotch pine, or spruce, 

 so that the whole may be simultaneously cleared off 

 when signs of decay appear. The results arising from 

 planting arable land are in many respects unsatisfactory. 

 The plants at first grow very rapidly, and continue 

 doing so for a time proportionate to the depth and 

 other conditions of the soil in which they are planted. 

 Trees thus grown are not only themselves short-lived, 

 but the quality of the wood is also inferior. I have 

 seen fine-looking larch trees, containing from forty to 

 fifty cubic feet of timber, grown upon land where the 

 same person had reaped corn, and cut trees of the 

 above size. The quality of the timber, however, 

 although the trees were good in appearance, proved 

 very inferior, — so much so, that Scotch fir posts of 

 medium quality in the same ground have remained 

 sounder than the larch in the form of gate posts. 



There are various other means of preparing the 

 ground which may with benefit be employed, and that 

 can be done cheaply and to great advantage ; one of the 

 most important of these is that of burning the herbage 



