178 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



Planting at suitable seasons of the year. It is not 

 easy to define a suitable season for planting every species, 

 under all conditions of soil and climate. With species 

 subject to rapid drying of buds and shoots, and furnished 

 with bad root systems, planting in midwinter, or before cold, 

 dry spells, invariably leads to many failures, but it is not 

 possible for the forester to anticipate the coming weather, 

 and a great deal has to be left to good fortune. If every 

 month in the year lived up to its reputation, the end of 

 October or beginning of November for dry soils, and the 

 end of March for wet, would be the most suitable plant- 

 ing periods for all species generally. At the former 

 period soil water and atmospheric moisture are usually 

 most abundant, and enable the trees to recover their 

 normal conditions before cold weather sets in. In April 

 frequent showers and a rising temperature favour root 

 action, and the period of stagnation is short. All badly 

 rooted trees, or those which possess badly ripened shoots, 

 and coniferous trees generally, should always be moved at 

 one or the other of these seasons, while deciduous species 

 generally may be planted safely at any time between 

 October and May. 



The remedies for the above evils are self-evident and 

 need little describing. Both more time and more money 

 must be spent in nursery, soil preparation, and planting 

 work if better results are to be obtained. Seed beds 

 should be thinly sown, so that each seedling may have 

 sufficient space to grow into a thick, stocky plant. In 

 nursery lines, at least from three to six inches should 

 separate the plants, according to species, larch especially 

 requiring abundant space, if good plants are to be pro- 

 duced. 



In lifting, the soil should be removed from the front of 

 the plants and below them before the spade is put in be- 

 hind them, and thoroughly loosened before pulling them 



