42 THOREAU. 



squirrels here; they have simply rediscovered the 

 value of pines as nurses for oaks. The English ex 

 perimenters seem early and generally to have found 

 out the importance of using trees of some kind as 

 nurse-plants for the young oaks. I quote from Lou- 

 don what he describes as &quot; the ultimatum on the sub 

 ject of planting and sheltering oaks,&quot; - &quot; an abstract 

 of the practice adopted by the government officers in 

 the national forests &quot; of England, prepared by Alex 

 ander Milne. 



At first some oaks had been planted by themselves, 

 and others mixed with Scotch pines ; &quot; but in all 

 cases,&quot; says Mr. Milne, &quot;where oaks were planted 

 actually among the pines, and surrounded by them, 

 [though the soil might be inferior,] the oaks were 

 found to be much the best.&quot; &quot;For several years past, 

 the plan pursued has been to plant the inclosures with 

 Scotch pines only, [a tree very similar to our pitch- 

 pine,] and when the pines have got to the height of 

 five or six feet, then to put in good strong oak plants 

 of about four or five years growth among the pines, 

 not cutting away any pines at first, unless they 

 happen to be so strong and thick as to overshadow 

 the oaks. In about two .years, it becomes necessary to 

 shred the branches of the pines, to give light and air 

 to the oaks, and in about two or three more years to 

 begin gradually to remove the pines altogether, taking 

 out a certain number each year, so that, at the end of 

 twenty or twenty-five years, not a single Scotch pine 

 shall be left; although, for the first ten or twelve 

 years, the plantation may have appeared to contain 

 nothing else but pine. The advantage of this mode 

 of planting has been found to be that the pines dry 

 and ameliorate the soil, destroying the coarse grass 



