BRITISH FOREST TRKK> 209 



to five bushels are needed, and for broadcast sowing on 

 prepared patches, or for dibbling-in with ordinary or with 

 two-pointed hoes, about three to four bushels are requisite ; 

 where dibbling-in is confined to prepared patches only, two 

 to three bushels per acre may suffice. 



In general, fresh acorns require a covering of earth about 

 one to one and a half inches thick, the rapidity of germination 

 being regulated by its thickness ; when mixed thus with earth 

 the seed is much less apt to lose its germinative power than if 

 simply lying under the dead foliage, or incompletely incorpo- 

 rated with the soil by means of harrowing or raking. The 

 lighter the soil, the thicker should be the covering of earth, 

 but when the acorns are not sown till the spring following 

 the mast, this should be thin in order to stimulate germin- 

 ation. Except where circumstances are unfavourable, 

 autumn is the best time for sowing, as being most in 

 accordance with the natural process, the simplest to carry 

 out, and yielding on the whole the best results. On low- 

 lying tracts and moist localities where late frosts are frequent, 

 a preference is, however, often given to sowing in spring, as 

 the seedlings run less danger owing to their later germination. 



When coppice is formed by sowing, this is best carried 

 out in lines four and a half to six feet apart, the soil being 

 well trenched, and the acorns sown closely. 



Planting of oak of all sizes up to seven or eight feet 

 can quite well be carried out without balls of earth around 

 the roots, but with the older plants some mutilation of the 

 tap-root can hardly be avoided, which may later on lead to 

 hollowness of the stem in the mature tree ; at any rate there 

 can be no doubt that, when the tap-root has been reduced 

 to any considerable extent, the young plant does not regain a 

 healthy appearance^ until its underground nutritive organs 

 have recovered from the injuries inflicted. On the other 

 hand, planting with an undiminished tap-root is comparatively 



