THE FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF GAME COVERTS. 



thrive under the shade and drip of other trees. For covert 

 planting the Colchic is perhaps preferable to the normal 

 form, as it is of a more dense and procumbent habit, perfectly 

 hardy, and less liable to injury from hares and rabbits. 

 The common laurel requires frequent and heavy pruning to 

 keep it in bounds, as, if allowed to ramble at will, it soon 

 becomes bare near the ground, and useless either as game 

 covert or ornament. Five years ago we layered a great 

 number of this plant that had through neglect become 

 useless for the purpose intended, many being from 12 feet to 

 over 20 feet in height, and with simply a tuft of foliage near 

 the top. In layering, we sawed the stems half through near 

 the ground, to assist in bending, and laid the plants flat on 

 their sides, a couple of stout pegs being driven alongside, 

 the crooked heads of which served to keep the plants in 

 their procumbent position. A spadeful of soil was then 

 placed on the top of each peg to assist the layer in rooting. 

 The result at the present time is everything that could be 

 desired, each stem having thrown up quantities of young 

 shoots, and thus formed a jungle of underwood, which year 

 by year will increase in value. 



In planting the laurel for covert avoid overcrowding, as, 

 being of quick growth, the plants, even although placed at a 

 considerable distance apart, soon unite and form a con- 

 tinuous undergrowth. No rule can be laid down as to the 

 distance which should be allowed between individual 

 plants, this depending entirely on their size, as well as 

 quality of the soil in which they are to be planted. 

 We not unfrequently plant double thick, either for immediate 

 effect, or to produce covert at once, and when the plants 

 begin to encroach on each other every alternate one is 

 removed, thus giving the remaining plants ample room for 

 developing side branches and thereby inducing a dwarf- 

 spreading habit. Having a tendency, especially when 

 confined, to increase more in height than width, the laurel, 

 after a few years growth, should have all the leading and 

 straggling upper branches cut over, which will not only 

 increase the under shoots but prevent the plants running up 



into tall, branchless poles. 



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