PLANTATION. 



PLANTATION. 



vegetate for years, have to be renewed again 

 and again, and the general appearance of the 

 plantation, overrun with weeds, or heath-moss, 

 or furze, is very melancholy. About 40s. per 

 acre more, bestowed in deep ploughing or sub- 

 soiling, will make a strange difference in the 

 rapid growth and consequent early profit of the 

 plantation, and, moreover, save materially the 

 expense of the trees ; for the number of them 

 which perish in land thus prepared for their 

 reception is very small. 



In a still greater degree are these good re- 

 sults obtained by the addition of say 20 cubic 

 yards per acre of marl, or clay, or a still less 

 quantity of chalk, according to the nature of the 

 soil, or lime, which may usually be procured 

 for an outlay of less than 30?. per acre ; or of 



2 or 3 tons of well putrefied farm-yard manure, 

 a shovelful under each tree, in the manner I 

 have before described. Now, supposing that 

 even all these preparations of the soil are made, 

 the expense per acre will then, in many situa- 

 tions, stand as follows, 



' s. d. 



Ploughing deeply - - - - - -200 



20 cnliic yards of marl or clay, or 10 of chalk - 1 10 



3 ctiliic yards of dung, at 6s. - - - - 18 

 Trees, ploughing, &.c. - - - - -600 



10 80 



Subsoil ploughing will cost from 24s. to 30s. 

 per statute acre. 



If the manure is omitted, as well as the earth 

 and the ploughing, the outlay of 5s. per acre in 

 lime, in the way I have noticed, will not be 

 without decided advantage. I am quite con- 

 vinced, therefore, that if all planters were to 

 confine their operations to a less extent of 

 land, and prepare and plant that ground well, 

 they would reap a much earlier and richer 

 harvest from the money expended than they 

 now do from a much greater extent of ill- 

 planted, exhausted soil. Such are the facts 

 which I have noticed, in my own practice 

 and that of others, as most necessary to be at- 

 tended to in rearing profitable, luxuriant planta- 

 tions of timber trees, on the poorest lands of 

 England; hardly any of whose soils, however, 

 are so barren or so elevated as not to be able 

 to produce, with only reasonable care and ex- 

 pense, an ample return for the capital of the 

 planter. It is a pursuit which is, in more re- 

 spects than one, worthy of the attention of the 

 landed proprietor, since he not only by his 

 plantations adds to the beauty and income of 

 his own estates, but at the same time yields to 

 the community at large great and important 

 services ; its barren wastes are made to pro- 

 duce timber and underwood, the soil is gradu- 

 ally rendered fertile, profitable supplies of la- 

 bour are afforded, its health is promoted, the 

 very climate by a general system of plantations 

 is ameliorated, for its bleak hills are clothed, 

 its stagnant swamps are drained. 



There is an excellent paper "On collecting 

 and preparing the seeds of Forest Trees, the 

 mode of sowing them," &c., by Mr. Adam, and 

 other planters. (Trans. High. Soc. vol. iii. p. 329.) 

 He advises Scotish planters to collect the seed 

 of the white larch (Pinus larix} in November, 

 from trees of 20 to 40 years of age, at an ele- 

 vation not exceeding 400 feet; that the seed- 

 S03 



bed should be manured with cow dung, well 

 mixed with the soil for some time previously to 

 sowing the seed, which should be in April and 

 May; the beds to be 42 inches in breadth, with 

 intervals of 18 inches. The seed should be 

 sown so that each square yard of ground may 

 produce 2000 plants, which in the first year 

 should reach to a height of 5 or 6 inches. One- 

 third of the plants may be drawn and pricked 

 out in rows at a distance of 10 inches, and the 

 remainder left for another year. The autumn, 

 Mr. Adams thinks, is the best time for forming 

 plantations. 



The seed of the Scotcli fir (Pinus sylvestris*) 

 is gathered in the same way, and, to separate 

 the seeds from the cones, it is necessary to 

 kiln-dry them; about 11$ quarters of cones 

 produce about 112 Ibs. of seed. The Scotch 

 fir must stand 2 years in the seed-bed. Oaks 

 are to be sown early in February: the best 

 acorns are to be had in Kent, the brightest and 

 heaviest being the most valuable ; they keep 

 very well spread on a deal floor; and may be 

 placed in drills a foot apart, 2 inches deep, to 

 be planted out when 2 or 3 years old. Ash keys 

 are gathered in December or January, and laid 

 in heaps mixed with one-third of their bulk of 

 sand under cover; they should be turned over 

 once or twice in the following year, and thus, 

 after resting for 12 or 14 months, are ready for 

 sowing in March, in drills a foot from each 

 other, and 1^ inches deep. The seed of the 

 Scotch elm is ripe in June, and should be sown 

 soon after; that of the beech is gathered in 

 September, and sown in the following March 

 or April, in drills 1$ inches deep. The seeds 

 of the Spanish chestnut are best procured from 

 Spain : they may be sown in February, in drills 

 4 inches deep. The horse-chestnut seeds are to 

 be sown in October: those of the weeping birch 

 should be sown as soon as gathered, and co- 

 vered with earth half an inch deep. Those of 

 the lime should be gathered and sown in Octo- 

 ber. Poplars are propagated by cuttings. 



For a description of the advantages, of pre- 

 paring the land for plantations, I wou'd advise 

 the young planter to consult the works of Mr. 

 Withers, the excellent Planter's Guide of Sir 

 Henry Steuart, and the Journal of the Royal 

 Jlric\illural Society of England. And for those 

 who wish to plant in the most simple way at 

 an expense of only 10s. per acre, see a paper 

 by Mr. Grigor. (Trans. High. Soc. vol. iii. p. 363.) 



By this mode, which consists of merely mak- 

 ing a hole, or raising the turf of the ground 

 sufficiently to put in the plants, the estimate is 

 for a Scotch acre (which is equal to 6150 square 

 yards) 



500 one-year transplanted larches - 

 1500 two-year seedling, do. 

 500 one-year transplanted Scotch firs 

 1000 two-year seedling, do. 

 Carriage of plants to the moor - 

 Expenses of planting 3,500 



d. 



1 9 



3 



9 



1 



1 2 



2 4 



Total expense per Scotch acre - - 10 



See ELW, FIR, FOREST, LARCH, OAK, PINE, &c. 



PLANTING. In arbo iculture, the art of 

 forming plantations of trees. Also the art of 

 inserting plants in the soil by the spade, dibble, 

 trowel, or by other means in use in agriculture 



