332 BRITISH FOREST TREES 



lines, give ample density, (about 14,50010 17,500 per acre). 

 Where several species are to be cultivated, they should be 

 kept apart in different beds, as the less vigorous are other- 

 wise interfered with in development by the species of more 

 energetic growth. 



The planting out consists in shoving in the slips, thick 

 end first, in a slanting direction into the soft soil, so that, if 

 yearling slips be used, the tops are hardly visible, but, if 

 stouter slips have been employed, only two-and-a-half to three 

 inches remain above ground, slight pressure being applied 

 with the hand above to bring the earth in close contact with 

 the slip. Where the use of a pricking-iron or any similar 

 instrument is advisable in order to prepare a hole for the 

 reception of the slip, the soil is either somewhat too binding 

 to be really suitable for willow-culture, or else the slip must 

 be very large in size. 



After the putting out of the slips has been completed, the 

 chief effort in the way of tending should, especially during 

 the first year, be to keep the beds clear of grass and weeds, 

 which must be removed with the hoe as often as necessary. 

 The filling up of blanks also requires attention, and it is well 

 if a reserve of slips has been put out in some nursery-beds 

 at the time of the formation of the osier-bed, in order that, 

 if necessary, they can be transplanted so as to be of the same 

 age exactly as the rest of the crop ; such transplants should 

 invariably be put out with earth around the roots, and not 

 naked. Blanks can also be filled by layering of shoots from 

 the surrounding plants, but in general the transplanting of 

 struck cuttings of the same age as the bulk of the crop is 

 most to be recommended. On sandy soil where no special 

 preparation has been made, the slips are often stuck into the 

 ground in wisps or nests, a pyramidally-shaped clod being 

 raised by means of four insertions of the spade, and pressed 

 home again after the insertion of slips at the corners and 



