THE OPERATION OF PLANTING. 35 



grassy side downwards are as good as anything must 

 be placed above the draining materials, to prevent the 

 soil from being carried down and obstructing its 

 action. And in trenching the entire space, it 

 will be requisite to observe that the bottom gradually 

 declines from the outside, to the drainage in the 

 centre, the better to prevent the accumulation of 

 stagnant moisture, a condition which every means 

 should be taken to obviate. In preparing the situa- 

 tions for the trees, whether in adding new soil or 

 otherwise, allowance must be made for subsidence; 

 that the tree, when all is thoroughly settled, shall 

 stand on a slight elevation, but only a slight one. 

 The practice of planting on high mounds is objection- 

 able on many points. Its supposed advantages can 

 be much better secured by drainage. 



Where the positions for trees are prepared in a 

 soil naturally retentive of moisture, a thorough 

 system of drainage is altogether indispensable. In 

 the absence of such precautionary measures, each 

 spot would become but a receptacle for water, without 

 the means of allowing it to pass off except by evapo- 

 ration. The new soil would be reduced to the con- 

 dition of mud, and the progress of the plants wholly 

 prevented, and death, in some form or other, in many 

 instances ensue. 



The following example, one of many which have come 

 under our notice, will possibly convey instructive 

 hints. Early in the autumn of 1849, we supplied a 

 gentleman with a small collection of choice Conifers, 

 for the purpose of decorating his lawn. They were 



D 2 



