50 Tree Planting and Tree Felling 



as possible. Now take each plant up very carefully, 

 loosening the ground round the roots so as not to have 

 to use any force in pulling it from the ground. If the 

 weather is particularly dry and the trees have to be 

 moved some distance it is best to dip the root of each 

 seedling into wet mud as you take it from the ground. 

 The mud will soon dry and form a protective coat. This 

 precaution is not however usually necessary. Your 

 trench should be made with one side going perpendi- 

 cularly into the ground. Each seedling should be held 

 against this steep side while the earth is filled into the 

 trench and is firmly stamped down. 



After two years more you may either transplant 

 your oaks again, or they may be sturdy enough to go 

 into the plantation. We will suppose that they are. 

 How close together are you going to put them ? This 

 all depends on what sort of timber you want your trees 

 to yield. In former days, when the curiously twisted 

 boughs of oaks were wanted for the framework of keels 

 of wooden ships, the most useful trees were those that 

 had plenty of room for their side branches to grow. If 

 they are grown closer together, as is generally the case 

 now, the lower branches are gradually smothered, but 

 the top of each tree grows as tall as possible in order 

 to overtop the trees round it and so reach the light 

 (Fig. 27). Your probable object is therefore to place 

 them near enough together to form tall straight trunks 

 without many branches, but not so near that they injure 

 each other. The right distance of course depends on 

 the size of the young trees when you plant them out, 

 and varies from about 3 to 5 feet. 



Instead of planting the oaks in pits as you did the 

 pines you had better use a wedge-shaped spade made 



