RECLAMATION OF THE SOIL. 129 



iron standards, or stone wall. For a limited number of years, 

 wooden palings, a wire fence with rough wooden standards, or 

 a turf dyke will be cheaper. 



Protection may be provided against horned cattle, horses, 

 sheep, goats, and deer by any of the above-mentioned fences. 

 Where hares and rabbits are to be excluded as well, wire 

 fences, and often also hedges and wooden palings, require the 

 addition of wire netting, or a similarly effective arrangement. 

 In the case of rabbits and hares only, wire netting, with cheap 

 standards, suffices ; the wire netting must go from 6 to 12 

 inches below the surface ; a still better arrangement is to lay 

 it flat on the surface on the outside for 6 to 12 inches and cover 

 it with soil or turf. 



Against ordinary cattle a height of 4 feet is sufficient, but 

 against deer the fence should be 6 and even 7 feet high. 



Section III. — Eeclamation of the Soil. 



Soil may be called fertile for sylvicultural purposes, if it 

 possess sufficient depth, a suitable degree of porosity and 

 moisture, and a suitable chemical composition. Forest 

 soil, if undisturbed, will in most cases maintain, or even 

 acquire, those physical conditions which render regular arti- 

 ficial tillage unnecessary. Immediately before and during 

 the formation of a wood, however, certain things may have to 

 be done to render the soil fit for the growth of trees. These 

 measures may be divided into the following two groups : — 



(rt.) Eeclamation of soil unfit for the growth of trees, and 



(h.) Tillage of the soil concurrent with the formation of 

 a wood. 



The latter will be dealt with in connection with the various 

 methods of starting a wood. Group (a) includes the following 

 measures : — 



(1.) Treatment of an impermeable substratum. 



(2.) Treatment of swampy ground generally. 



(3.) Irrigation of arid land. 



s. K 



