Book III. 



FORMATION OF PLANTATIONS. 



949 



shoughcd, i. e. earthed ; or they may be supplied daily from the nursery, as circumstances direct. All the 

 people employed ought to be provided with thick aprons, in which to lap up the plants ; the spadesmen, as 

 well as the boys or girls ; the latter being supplied by the former as occasion may require. All of them should 

 regularly fill their aprons at one time, to prevent any of the plants being too long retained in any of the 

 planters' aprons. One man cannot possibly set a plant so well with the spade, unless in the case of laying 

 as two people can ; nor, supposing him to do it as well, can he plant half as many in the same space 

 of time as two can. A boy ten years of age is equal, as a holder, to the best man on the field, and can be 

 generally had for less than half the money. Hence this method is not only the best, but the least ex- 

 pensive." {Plant. Kal. 167.) 



6843. By pitting. " The pit having been dug for several months, the surface will 

 therefore be encrusted by the rains, or probably covered with weeds. The man first 

 strikes the spade downwards to the bottom, two or three times, in order to loosen the 

 soil ; then poaches it, as if mixing mortar for the builder ; he next lifts out a spadeful 

 of the earth, or, if necessary, two spadefuls, so as to make room for all the fibres, without 

 their being anywise crowded together ; he then chops the rotten turf remaining in the 

 bottom, and levels the whole. The boy now places the plant perfectly upright, an 

 inch deeper than when it stood in the nursery, and holds it firm in that position. The 

 man trindles in the mould gently ; the boy gently moves the plant, not from side to side, 

 but upwards and downwards, until the fibres be covered. The man then fills in all 

 the remaining mould ; and immediately proceeds to chop and poach the next pit, leaving 

 the boy to set the plant upright, and to tread the mould about it. This in stiff wet soil 

 he does lightly ; but in sandy or gravelly soil he continues to tread until the soil no 

 longer retains the impression of his foot. The man has by this time got the pit ready 

 for the next plant, the boy is also ready with it in his hand, and in this manner the oper- 

 ation goes on. On very steep hangs which have been pitted, the following rule ought to 

 be observed in planting : to place the plant in the angle formed by the acclivity and sur- 

 face of the pit ; and in finishing to raise the outer margin of the pit highest, whereby the 

 plant will be made to stand as if on level ground, and the moisture be retained in the 

 hollow of the angle, evidently to its advantage." [Plant. Kal. 167.) 



' 6844. The slit niethod, either simply (2088.) or by the T method, is not recommended by Sang ; but 

 necessity may justify its adoption occasionally. " We would not recommend planting by the slit, unless 

 where there is no more soil than is absolutely occupied by the fibres of the herbage which grows on the 

 place. Excepting on turf, it cannot be performed ; nor should it be practised, if the turf be found three 

 or four inches thick. By pitting in summer, turf is capable of being converted into a proper mould in 

 the space of a few months ; and the expense of pitting, especially in small plantations, can never counter- 

 balance the risk of success in the eyes of an ardent planter. The most proper time to perform the oper- 

 ation of slitting in the plants, is when the surface is in a moist state. On all steeps the plant should be 

 placed towards the declivity, that the moisture may fall to its roots ; that is to say, in planting, the 

 spadesman should stand highest, and the boy lowest on the bank; by which arrangement the plant will 

 be inserted at the lower angle of the slit." {Plant. Kal. 170.) 



6845. Planting with the dia?nond dibber, he says, " is the cheapest and most expeditious planting of any 

 we yet know, in cases where the soil is a sand or gravel, and the surface bare of herbage. The plate of the 

 dibber {fig. 635. a) is made of good steel, and is four inches and a half broad where the iron handle is 

 welded to it ; each of the other two sides of the triangle is five inches long ; the thickness of the plate is 

 one fifth part of an inch, made thinner from the middle to the sides, till the edges become sharp. The 

 length of the iron handle is seven inches, and so strong as not to bend in working, which will require six 

 eighths of an inch square. The iron handle is furnished with a turned hilt, like the handle of a large gim- 

 let, both in its form and manner of being fixed on. The planter is furnished with a planting-bag, tied round 

 his waist, in which he carries the plants. A stroke is given with the dibber, a little aslant, the point lying 

 inwards ; the handle of the dibber is then drawn towards the person, while its plate remains within the 

 ground : by this means a vacuity is formed between the back of the dibber and the ground ; into which 

 the planter, with his other hand, introduces the roots of the seedling plants, being careful to put them 

 fully to the bottom of the opening : he then pulls out the dibber, so as not to displace them, and gives the 

 eased turf a smart stroke with the heel; and thus is the plant completely firmed. The greatest error the 

 planter with this instrument can run into, is the imperfect introduction of the roots. Green, or unprac- 

 tised hands, are apt to double the roots, or sometimes to lay them across the opening, instead of putting 

 them straight down, as above directed. A careful man, however, will become, if not a speedy, at least a 

 good planter in one day ; and it is of more importance that he be a sure hand; than a quick one. A person 

 who is of a careless or slovenly disposition, should never be allowed to handle a dibber of tliis kind." 



6846. Planting with the planting-?nattock 

 {fig. 635. b) is resorted to in rocky or other 

 spots where pitting is impracticable. " The 

 helve or handle is three feet six inches 

 long ; the mouth is five inches broad, and 

 is made sharp ; the length from it to the 

 eye, or helve, is sixteen inches ; and it is 

 used to pare oft' the sward, heath, or other 

 brush that may happen to be in the way, 

 previous to easing the soil with the other 

 end. The small end tapers from the eye, 

 and terminates in a point, and is seventeen 

 inches long." By this instrument the 

 surface is skimmed off " for six or eight 

 inches in diameter, and with the pick-end 

 dug down six or eight inches deep, bring- 

 ing up any loose stones to the surface; by 

 which means a place will be prepared for 

 the reception of the plant, little inferior to a pit. This instrument may be used in many cases-, when the 

 plants to be planted are of small size, such as one-year larch-seedlings, one year nursed ; or two-year Scots 

 pines, one year nursed ; and the expense is much less than by the spade." {Plant. Kal. 385.) 



6847. Planting ivith the forest-planter, {fig. 635. c) " The helve is sixteen inches long, the mouth is four 

 inches and a half broad, and the length of the head is fourteen inches. The instrument is used in planting 

 hilly ground, previously prepared by the hand-mattock. The person who performs the work carries the 

 plants in a close apron ; digs out the earth sufficiently to hold the roots of the plant ; and sets and firms it 



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