576 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Paet III. 



of the herbage which grows on the place. Excepting on turf, it cannot be performed ; 

 nor should it be practised, if the turf be found three or four inches thick. By pitting in 

 summer, turf is capable of being converted into a proper mould in the space of a few 

 months ; and the expense of pitting, especially in small plantations, can never counter- 

 balance the risk of success in the eyes of an ardent planter. The most proper time to 

 perform the operation of slitting in the plants, is when the surface is in a moist state. 

 On all steeps the plant should be placed towards the declivity, that the moisture may fall 

 to its roots ; that is to say, in planting, the spadesman should stand highest, and the boy 

 lowest on the bank ; by which arrangement the plant will be inserted at the lower angle 

 of the slit." {Plant. Kal. 170.) 



3662. Planting with the diamond dibber^ he says, *' is the cheapest and most expeditious 

 planting of any we yet know, in cases where the soil is a sand or gravel, and the surface 

 bare of herbage. The plate of the dibber [Jig. 455 a) is made of good steel, and is 

 four inches and a half broad where the iron handle is welded to it ; each of the other two 

 sides of the triangle is five inches long ; the thickness of the plate is one fifth part of an 

 inch, made thinner from the middle to the sides, till the edges become sharp. The 

 length of the iron handle is seven inches, and so strong as not to bend in working, which 

 will require six-eighths of an inch square. The iron handle is furnished with a turned 

 hilt, like the handle of a large gimlet, both in its form and manner of being fixed on. 

 The planter is furnished with a planting bag, tied round his waist, in which he carries the 

 plants. A stroke is given with the dibber, a little aslant, the point lying inwards ; the 

 handle of the dibber is then drawn towards the person, while its plate remains within the 

 ground : by this means a vacuity is formed between the back of the dibber and the 

 ground ; into which the planter, with his other hand, introduces the roots of the seedling 

 plants, being careful to put them fully to the bottom of the opening : he then pulls out 

 the dibber, so as not to displace them, and gives the eased turf a smart stroke with the 

 heel ; and thus is the plant completely firmed. The greatest error the planter with this 

 instrument can run into, is the imperfect introduction of the roots. Green, or unprac- 

 tised hands, are apt to double the roots, or sometimes to lay them across the opening, in- 

 stead of putting them straight down, as above directed. A careful man, however, will 

 become, if not a speedy, at least a good planter in one day ; and it is of more importance 

 that he be a sure hand, than a quick one. A person who is of a careless or slovenly dis- 

 position, should never be allowed to handle a dibber of this kind." 



3663. Planting with the plant- 

 ing-mattock {fig. 455 b) is resorted 

 to in rocky or other spots where 

 pitting is impracticable. " The 

 helve or handle is three feet six 

 inches long; the mouth is five 

 inches broad, and is made sharp ; 

 the length from it to the eye, or 

 helve, is sixteen inches ; and it is 

 used to pare off the sward, heath, 

 or other brush that may happen to 

 be in the way, previous to easing 

 the soil with the other end. The 



small end tapers from the eye, and terminates in a point, and is seventeen inches long. " 

 By this instrument the surface is skimmed off " for six or eight inches in diameter, and 

 with the pick-end dug down six or eight inches deep, bringing up any loose stones to the 

 surface ; by which means a place will be prepared for the reception of the plant, little in- 

 ferior to a pit. This instrument may be used in many cases, when the plants to be 

 planted are of small size, such as one-year larch-seedlings, one year nursed ; or two-year 

 Scots pines, one year nursed ; and the expense is much less than by the spade." {Plant. 

 Kal. 385.) 



3664. Planting with the forest-planter (Jig. 455 c). " The helve is sixteen inches 

 long, the mouth is four inches and a half broad, and the length of the head is fourteen 

 inches. The instrument is used in planting hilly ground, previously prepared by the hand- 

 mattock. The person who performs the work carries the plants in a close apron ; digs 

 out the earth sufficiently to hold the roots of the plant ; and sets and firms it without help 

 from another : it is only useful when small plantsare used, and in hilly or rocky situations. " 

 {Plant. Kal. pref. xxiv.) 



3665. Pontey prefers planting by jntling, in general cases ; the holes being made dur- 

 ing the preceding summer or winter, sufficiently large, but not so deep into a reten- 

 tive subsoil as to render them a receptacle for water. When the plants have been 

 brought from a distance he strongly recommends puddling them previously to planting ; 

 if they seem very much dried, it would be still better to lay them in the ground for eight 

 or ten days, giving them a good soaking of water every second or third day, in order to 



