THE NEW FORESTRY. 123 



transplanted at the same season, but the species usually grown 

 for timber in this country are not numerous, and the best 

 season to plant any of them is undoubtedly the autumn, from 

 August till the end of October, and what cannot be got out 

 during these months should be held over till April and May. 

 In the south, planting may be begun in March. The month 

 of August is early, some may think, but it must be remembered 

 that where large areas have to be planted it is necessary to 

 begin as soon as possible. The only objection to .planting 

 in August or September is the condition of the soil. If it be 

 sufficiently moist to work it will do, and there is little fear 

 of failure. We have purposely tested autumn, winter, and 

 spring planting on a large scale and often, both in the nursery 

 and in the woods, and we have recommended autumn and 

 late spring planting to nurserymen and foresters who have 

 tried it, and their experience has been the same as our own, 

 viz., that these two seasons are by far the most favourable, and 

 winter, from November to March, the worst Some of the 

 pines, like the Corsican fir and Pinus pinaster, are bad trans- 

 planters the first-named especially, which often dies off 

 wholesale, and always fails to a greater or lesser extent when 

 planted at the dead seasons of the year, just as the common 

 holly does ; but in early autumn, or late in spring, it is quite 

 equal to the Scotch fir as a transplanter, and the Scotch fir is 

 one of the best, although it too fails at times. Danger ot 

 excessive evaporation from the foliage in autumn and spring 

 is not so great as Dr. Lindley seems to think. We have 

 repeatedly transplanted large breadths of Scotch, Corsican, 

 and Austrian firs in the home nursery, throughout the whole of 

 May, and sometimes far into June, when the young shoots 

 were from two to three inches long and very soft and tender, 

 and lost hardly any plants. The young leaves and side 

 shoots became limp and drooped for a few days, but one good 

 watering as the rows were planted was sufficient to tide them 

 over the first few days, when all danger was over. Some of 

 the Edinburgh nurserymen who saw our stock annually have 

 repeated our experiments on a larger scale with the most satis- 

 factory results. Large plants, two years transplanted, will 

 move equally well at the same season provided the roots are 

 well " puddled " at planting or watered afterwards. Very 

 early or very late removal from the nursery to the open land 

 is not, however, to be recommended if the ground be dry, as 

 watering extensive young plantations is out of the question 

 unless labour is plentiful. It was our experience in late spring 



