396 PROTECTION AGAINST PLANTS. 



made gradually. All blanks should be speedily filled in with 

 strong transplants. 



ii. MODERATELY LONG ROTATIONS. 



Long rotations should be avoided, and woods of light- 

 demanding species (oak, Scots pine, or larch), should be 

 underplanted at the right time with shadebearers (beech, 

 silver-fir, spruce, Weymouth pine, etc.). 



If a soil-protection wood is to serve its proper purpose, it 

 must be introduced before grasses have sprung up and helped 

 to dry the soil. 



iii. RAPID REPLANTING OF CLEARED AREAS. 



Clear-cuttings should be rapidly restocked with strong 

 transplants planted closely. 



iv. MAINTENANCE OF SOIL-COVERING. 



The natural soil-covering of dead leaves, needles or moss 

 should be maintained, by keeping up a dense cover, and by 

 preventing the removal of litter. 



v. DRAINAGE. 



Drainage should be carried out on very damp localities, 

 before they are re-stocked. 



vi. GRAZING. 



A dense growth of heather may be kept down by sheep. 

 Cattle are useful in young deodar woods, with a dense growth 

 of shrubs, which grow most luxuriantly in the Himalayas. 



vii. RULES FOR FOREST NURSERIES. 



Nurseries should not be too near fields. The seed-beds and 

 nursery lines should be carefully weeded or hoed before the 

 weeds blossom, and during rainy weather. Burned sods 

 should be used as manure, as this destroys the seeds of weeds. 

 Manure from old manure heaps is often full of nettle-seed, 

 and when burnt compost is not strong enough for a nursery, 

 artificial manures, such as basic slag, in autumn, and sodium 

 nitrite or kainit, in the spring, should be sprinkled between 

 the lines of plants. If farmyard manure is used, it is better to 

 grow a crop of potatoes before restocking with forest plants. 



