AFFORESTING AND THE UNEMPLOYED 



In charge of the squad were a general 

 foreman and several gangers, whose duty it 

 was to mark off where the holes were to be 

 dug out, and generally supervise operations. 

 The men worked in line and in batches of 

 twenty, digging the pits to the stipulated size 

 of 15 inches square and 12 inches deep, the 

 bottom and side of each pit being loosened 

 up by means of a fork or pick where the soil 

 was not considered sufficiently friable for the 

 reception of the young trees. The top turf 

 was removed in two halves, about 2 inches 

 thick, and after being thoroughly chopped 

 up by the spade was placed in the bottom of 

 the pit and covered with a small quantity of 

 soil. By so doing the pits were left ready for 

 the reception of the young trees, and by the 

 time that the whole of the ground was so 

 treated the first-opened holes and soil had 

 received the benefit of their exposure to the 

 weather. Tree-planting was carried out by 

 the same staff of workmen, with the aid of 

 boys for holding the plants and keeping them 

 in an upright position whilst the roots were 

 being covered with soil. Here a good deal of 

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