THE NEW FORESTRY. 115 



forest trees make less progress during the first year or two 

 than they do when planted on the natural grassy surface. 

 It is certainly a fact, that bare ground, once it hardens on the 

 surface, suffers much more from drought in summer and cold 

 in winter than grass land does. So marked was this, in a case 

 that came under our notice, where a crop of potatoes was 

 succeeded by plantation of young larch, that the forester, 

 instead of keeping the weeds down by the hoe the second 

 year, simply trod or cut them over and left them lying as a 

 mulching, and wiih advantage to the trees 



Land from which a crop of timber has been recently 

 removed is considered the most unsuitable for planting, par- 

 ticularly when the previous crop has consisted of any of the 

 pine tribe, which may leave the seeds of disease and insect 

 pests behind them. Even stubbing up the old stools does not 

 get rid of these dangers, and that is expensive work ; while 

 trenching the ground, owing to the cost, is prohibitive. The 

 best plan in such a case is to leave the ground vacant for a few 

 years, exposed to the frost and weather, and it is also an 

 excellent plan to burn the surface vegetation frequently. 

 Fungus from the old stools, such as the dangerous Agaricus 

 melleus, are to be feared, especially when the succeeding 

 crop consists of the same species as the preceding one; and 

 under such circumstances a change of crop is advisable. 

 Still, re-planting old woods without any preparation is a 

 common practice, and failures are not common after the trees 

 are fairly established. 



SECTION II. DRAINING. 



As to drains, soil that does not in winter remain sodden 

 or spongy after rains or indicate stagnant water does not need 

 draining, and where these signs are present, open drains from 

 two-and-a-half feet to three feet deep, nine inches wide at the 

 bottom, three feet wide at the top, and about thirty feet 

 asunder, will carry off all superfluous water from heavy rains. 

 The trees themselves absorb much moisture from the ground 

 during the season, but, on the other hand, the evaporation 

 from the ground is considerably less in woods than in the 

 open fields. Spongy peat-lands and morasses require deeper 

 and wider drains to render them fit for trees. According 

 to the " Highland Society's Transactions," vol. v., p. 96, in 

 draining extensive peat morasses near Moy, in Ireland, an 

 arterial drain, thirty-three feet wide and from eight to ten feet 



