DROUGHT. 521 



withdrawn in the autumn in order to harden the plants. Where 

 branches are used to protect plants from the sun, Scots or 

 Weymouth pines are preferable, as broadleaved branches soon 

 have their foliage shrivelled, and spruce needles fall off, while 

 silver-fir foliage is too dense. 



(v.) Keep the beds free from weeds, as weeding prevents the 

 soil from caking, and renders it hygroscopic ; for this purpose 

 the spaces between the plants should be hoed in hot summers, 

 even if there are no weeds. Soft earth may be placed on either 

 side of the rows of plants, when the beds are weeded. 



vi. The plants may be watered, or irrigated ; it is best to 

 water in the evening, and when watering has been commenced 

 it must be repeated from time to time till rain falls, as it 

 encourages the formation of superficial rootlets, which would 

 soon die should the beds become too dry. On this account the 

 beds should be watered only when absolutely necessary. The 

 crust of earth on the surface of the beds, due to watering, must 

 from time to time be broken up with the hoe. An account 

 of nursery-irrigation is given in Schlich's Silviculture.* 



c. Rules for Tending Woods. 



All epicormic branches must be pruned from standards 

 reserved in high forest, or over coppice, as they keep rain and 

 dew from the young plants, and render the standards stag- 

 headed. The standing-crop should be kept as dense as possible, 

 and the natural soil-covering preserved. Trees along the 

 boundaries of a forest, or along roads, should be kept dense, 

 and the outer row be allowed to branch down to the ground, 

 so as to exclude dry hot winds from the forest. A series of 

 horizontal trenches may be dug along dry slopes, in order to 

 retain the rain-water. 



d. Rules during Utilisation of Woods. 



The seeding-cuttings on poor dry soils should be kept dark, 

 but at the same time, after a good crop of seedlings has sprung 

 up, the plants should be rapidly or gradually exposed according 

 to their demands on light so that they may get the full benefit 

 of rain and dew, and develop rapidly. All isolated smooth 

 barked mother-trees should be felled, and the bare patches 



* " Manual of Forestry " (3rd edition), Vol. II., p. 137. 



