66 PLANTING 



made per acre ; which, at Sd. a rod, would be i t 6s. 8d. per 

 acre; or, adding for culverts and mains (say) i, ics. per 

 acre. 



In cases where land will grow a crop of some hardy, non- 

 exacting species, but is too wet for some more exacting and 

 more valuable species, it will usually be the better plan to 

 grow the non-exacting species, without going to the 

 expense of draining, rather than to drain the land and grow 

 the more valuable species. This latter species will probably 

 be able to follow on as a second crop at the end of the rotation ; 

 for, it must be remembered that a crop of trees will drain the 

 soil to a very great extent of superfluous moisture ; the water 

 table will be lowered ; and the decaying roots of the previous 

 crop afford little water channels to carry away water to the 

 subsoil. 



The effect of drainage by trees is sometimes very marked ; 

 the surface soil on peaty land often being lowered some 

 6 inches to i foot. 



When draining peat lands of any depth, it is preferable 

 to effect the drainage by 2 or 3 operations, rather than 

 by I operation ; for in the latter case it will often happen 

 that the sides of the cutting will fall in. After draining, the 

 peat will shrink to an extraordinary degree, and planting 

 should not usually take place until the peat has fairly 

 settled. 



There is another matter with respect to drainage, which 

 is of great importance to have regard to, and that is, the 

 extreme danger of draining land on which, or near to which, 

 a crop of timber is growing. And especially is this the case 

 if the crop be approaching maturity. Drainage effected for 

 agricultural purposes has often been known to adversely 

 affect a plantation near by. 



OTHER PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS. 



Cleaning and Preparing the Land. It will almost 

 always be advisable to burn off all rubbish and rank growth 

 that may exist on the surface of the land. This will lessen 



