118 PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



plantations, being ill prepared for their new circum- 

 stances,, are snre to receive a severe dieck, whicli, if it 

 does not kill them outright^ will retard their growth for 

 many years, or stmit them to an extent from which they 

 may never recover. 



The thinning of fir plantations need not begin before 

 the trees press so much on each other as not only to 

 check the growth of the lower branches, but also to kill 

 a portion of those next the ground. 



In hardwood plantations the thinning commences 

 when the nurses press so much on the permanent trees 

 as really to injure them : but only such trees should be 

 removed as actually do so. When the pressure is slight, 

 it may be relieved by cutting back the nurses to half their 

 length, and they may be allowed to remain till the 

 advance of the hardwood requires their entire removal. 

 From the time that all the nurses are removed, in each 

 of the subsequent thinnings which are necessary to 

 leave the permanent trees that are suitable for the for- 

 mation of large timber, those trees should first be cut 

 down which appear to press on their stronger and more 

 healthy neighbours, and to deprive them of the room 

 and nomishment needful to their increasing growth. 



Transplanting of Trees. — In the improvement of the 

 park and pleasm^e-grounds, much may be effected by 

 the transplantation of trees of a considerable size. 

 ^Tiere suitable trees are to be had, they may often 

 be effectively employed in the formation of groups in 

 the la^vns and in the park, or in making up masses of 

 wood to shut out disagreeable views or unsightly objects. 

 As in such operations immediate effect is the principal 

 object aimed at, it is a matter of the utmost importance 

 that the work of transplantation should be performed 



