40 FORESTRY 



self-sown plants from existing woods. It usually costs less 

 to collect plants that have sprung up naturally and abundantly 

 in the woods, than to buy young stock or raise plants from 

 seed in a nursery. But the results are not nearly so sure 

 as in the latter case. The use of wild seedlings is, at any 

 rate, limited. Such plants are not generally employed for 

 establishing a wood, but for the filling in of blanks that 

 have occurred in a recently regenerated area they are fre- 

 quently found useful. Especially is this so if the plants are 

 lifted without loosening the earth attached to their roots. 

 The secret of success with such plants depends almost en- 

 tirely upon the treatment they receive when being lifted and 

 transported. In all cases only the best developed should be 

 selected ; ill-thriving or stunted plants must not be taken. 



Apart from Willows, Poplars, and Limes, the use of 

 cuttings, layers, etc., hardly comes into consideration in 

 practical forestry, though in arboriculture many species are 

 thus propagated. Occasionally young plants of broad-leaved 

 species, particularly Oaks, are cut down to within half an 

 inch of the collar or root-head. Thus only root and stock are 

 planted, and the latter sends out coppice shoots. It is at times 

 a useful practice, as, for instance, when the upper portions 

 of young Oaks have been frozen in an unfavourable season. 



The care taken in planting out forest stock cannot be too 

 great. It is a delicate operation, demanding the utmost caution 

 in the treatment of the plant. For the greater certainty 

 in preserving vitality, the plants are sometimes removed and 

 inserted into new ground, each with a clod of earth still 

 adhering to the roots. Such ball-plants, as they are called, 

 are practically undisturbed in their growth, but they are 

 awkward to transport, and are on this account expensive. 

 They require to be raised in soil which is fairly binding, and 

 altogether present difficulties that circumscribe their use. 

 So it is, that plants with naked roots are generally found 

 most suitable. 



Bunch-planting, the insertion together of two or more 

 plants, is a practice now rarely followed ; single planting 



