i 5 4 BRITISH FOREST TREES 



used, a preference being given to transplants that have 

 had one year's schooling in the nursery at about 6" x 4''. 

 Two-year-old seedlings can also establish themselves fairly 

 well, but develop less quickly than transplants of the same 

 age. The best results are obtained with plants from two to 

 four feet in height ; but for putting out in copse, on pasture- 

 land, or along roads, larger transplants can quite well be 

 used. 



Spring is the best time for planting out the larch, but this 

 must be seen to early, as it soon breaks into leaf ; where 

 early putting out cannot be conveniently arranged for, it is 

 better to plant in autumn as soon as the little tufts of foliage 

 are becoming yellow. Owing to the ease with which it estab- 

 lishes itself, planting with balls of earth attached to the roots 

 is only necessary with the larger assortments of transplants, 

 which also bear trimming, like oak and beech, into pyramidal 

 form. Pit-planting is the rule, though on suitable soils 

 one or two-year-old seedlings can easily and cheaply be 

 notched with broad spades. 



As might be expected from its demand for light, planting 

 is not so close as with other species of forest trees. Trans- 

 plants of three feet high are usually put out at distances of 

 five and six feet apart, or in rows 8 feet x 4 feet, whilst 

 larger classes of plants are given 9 feet x 9 feet and greater 

 distances. When larch is scattered singly throughout mixed 

 forests, only well-grown transplants should be used, and 

 these should be put out not nearer than 24 feet x 24 feet. 



The rearing of seedlings and transplants has no special 

 difficulties to contend with. The nurseries should be selected, 

 if possible, on mild, fresh loamy soils without tendency to be 

 binding. The seed should be sown broadcast on the pre- 

 pared beds, and not in rills as with other species ; where the 

 young plants come up too quickly, they can be thinned at 

 each time of weeding. The pricking out of the yearling 



