some observations on planting new ground. 33 



Best Season for Planting. 



Until recently the writer believed in and practised late spring 

 planting. It is a fairly popular belief, that to have successful 

 results in transplanting Douglas fir and Sitka spruce the work 

 has to be undertaken in late spring, and no doubt, speaking 

 generally, the best results will be attained with these and with 

 most evergreens by late spring planting, but that is rather 

 beside the question. For reasons which need not be entered 

 into, planting here has to be commenced as early as possible in 

 autumn and continued through winter and spring until well on 

 in May. It is also a more or less general rule to plant in pure 

 groups or blocks according to soil and other conditions. 

 Under these conditions, and admitting that the trees named 

 could only be planted in late spring, it will be readily understood 

 that it was somewhat inconvenient to have to go over the ground 

 planting certain varieties when suitable and leaving for late 

 spring planting such places as were set apart for Douglas and 

 Sitjca. This led, some years ago, to experiments being made 

 in planting a few hundreds of each of these species at various 

 seasons, and planting at those seasons which proved successful 

 was repeated in succeeding years with the same satisfactory 

 results, so that for the two past seasons (1913-14, 1914-15) the 

 practice has been to plant the ground straight ahead, and so 

 far no ill results have followed. In the first-named year all 

 the Douglas excepting a few thousands were planted during 

 December and the remainder in January, with a death rate 

 of beween two and three per cent., and a great number of Sitka 

 were planted at the same time with rather better results. It 

 may, however, still prove to be the case that the mild winters 

 of late have had something to do with the success, or it may be 

 that the mild climate of West Argyll may permit of innovations 

 of the above nature, whereas in a more rigorous climate such 

 methods might result in failure ; further, the results of a few years' 

 experience are not quite sufficient on which to form a decided 

 opinion. It might, therefore, be very instructive if some experi- 

 ments of the same nature were made in different localities ; 

 because, as indicated earlier, we want all the information that 

 can be got on these, and other points of interest ; and the more 

 information that can be got is so much the better for the cause 

 of forestry. 



vol. XXX. part I. c 



