PITTING. 160 



circumstance when the planting is extensive, as it ena- 

 bles the improver to have his work better executed than 

 it would be were he obliged to confine his operations to 

 a few weeks at a time. Six months in winter, inclu- 

 sive of November and April, are the utmost limits 

 within which planting maj bo hazarded. Indeed, 

 April and one half of March should be excluded, ex- 

 cept in late seasons, or in high, cold, and wet grounds. 

 On light, dry soils, the best season is at tJie beginning 

 of winter ; and on heavj and moist situations, toward 

 its close. Very wet, snowj, or frosty weather presents 

 the only interruptions to the progress of planting; in 

 some years, these will reduce the planting season to 

 within half the period stated ivbove. 



Pitting, though the most expensive, is the most 

 certain method of planting, and therefore should be 

 adopted in the woods of the park. The only allow- 

 able exception to this rule, would be the use of the slit 

 or T manner of inserting the trees ; which, in exposed 

 localities, and with seedlings, will less subject the 

 plants to wind-waving, and so will be more successful 

 than ordinary pitting. The trees may be planted at 

 from three and a half to four and a half feet apart, 

 according to the soil and situation — these distances 

 including both the nursing and the principal trees. In 

 hardwood plantations, such intervals will place the 

 ti-ees from seven feet to nine feet apart. Larch, spruce, 

 and Scotch firs make excellent nurses, and are ex- 

 tremely useful in yielding shelter, and in drawing up 

 the hardwood into tall, clean trunks. In sheltered 

 situations, and in good soils, such nurses may be 

 omitted. Masses of hardwood are sometimes required 



to produce particular effects, and in these cases it is 

 8 



