CH. VI 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



181 



cSJSr^ 



Fig. 64. 



Fig. 65. 



Another method of planting is by notching. This 



may be done with an ordinary flat spade, or with 



special notching spades (Figs. 64 



and 65), or with a notching 



hatchet 1 (Fig. 66). Where the 



ground is not too hard the last- 



named implement will suit people 



accustomed to squatting best. 



The ordinary way of notching is 



to drive the spade or hatchet verti- 

 cally into the ground and move it 



to and fro so as to make a wedee- 



shaped hole, into which the young 



plant is slipped, as is done for 



holes made with the planting 



dagger, and to close the hole by 



a slanting stroke of the spade, 



the handle of the spade being 



worked towards the plant. When 



the planting hatchet is used this 



method of closing the hole is not feasible, and some 



earth has to be broken up with the blade and dropped 

 into the hole. This method can be 

 used with plants which have lateral 

 roots somewhat better developed than 

 in the case of planting with peg or 

 dagger. 



Another method of notching con- 

 sists in making two vertical cuts with 

 a spade in the soil in the shape of 

 a T. The cross-cut is the last made, 

 the handle of the spade being bent 

 backwards so as to open out the two 

 cuts at their junction. The plant is 

 then slipped into this opening and drawn a little 

 towards the extremity of the vertical cut of the T 

 (Fig. 67). The disadvantage of this method is that in 

 pulling the plant into the notch the roots cannot be 



1 Figs. 64 to 66 are adapted from Schlich's Man. of Forestry, vol. ii. 



Fig. 66. 



