182 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



cheapest method to adopt, and the reason is not far to 

 seek. In taking out the pit the soil is stirred and 

 pulverised, and when the finer particles are placed in 

 contact with the roots, as they should be, the conditions 

 approach those prevailing, to some extent, in cultivated 

 land. In stiff clays or tough peat, pitting alone may be 

 insufficient to bring the soil into a fit condition. In the 

 former, the soil must not only be broken up, but 

 exposed to the air and frost, so that the capillary water 

 of the clay may be replaced by air, and the whole 

 reduced to a friable mass. The usual method adopted to 

 brinsr about weathering is hole-dicrffinsr in autumn, leaving 

 the holes during the winter, and planting in spring. Many 

 foresters object to this method on account of the holes 

 filling with water, and preventing planting until late 

 spring. To avoid this it is possibly better to dig the 

 holes during the summer and plant in early autumn, 

 before the soil becomes too wet and sticky. With 

 conifers, however, autumn planting in such soils is a 

 risky business, as the temperature of the soil quickly 

 falls to, and remains at a point which is not conducive 

 to root action or growth, and diminished aeration also 

 acts in a similar direction. Observations on tree roots 

 planted on wet soils in autumn or midwinter invariably 

 show the death and decay of broken or bruised roots to 

 a considerable distance beyond the points of injury. 

 Conifers or evergreens, the leaves or needles of which 

 transpire more or less during the winter, or from which 

 evaporation takes place in windy Aveather, undoubtedly 

 suffer from such soil conditions, and show a high death- 

 rate from autumn or winter planting. Most planters, 

 therefore, do not plant on wet soils until spring, believing 

 that the short interval between the process of planting 

 and the resumption of functional and vegetative activity 

 in the roots reduces the risk of failure. In fairly damp 



