THE PINE-TREE AND FIR-TREE. 19 



How to plant Pines and Firs. — When any of 

 the choice Pine, Fir, or Cupressus tribes are to be 

 permanently planted, it is of the utmost importance 

 to look forward as to what it will be twenty or 

 thirty years hence. I have known some valuable 

 trees obliged to be sacrificed to the woodman's axe 

 entirely through misplanting, or planting the young 

 tree where it had not sufficient room to develop itself. 

 " Oh ! what a pity,^ thought I, " that this fine tree, 

 worth a hundred pounds, should be obliged to be cut 

 down before it has half developed its grandeur, and all 

 through the planter not looking forward and seeing 

 how much room it would require to develop itself full}-." 

 I am quite aware of the difficulty there is in giving a 

 good flowery finish to a gentleman's grounds around 

 the mansion, when young stuff of 18 or 24 inches high 

 is planted for a few succeeding years. For this reason 

 (and one other, which is of more consideration to the 

 nurseryman who supplies the stuff than the first reason), 

 the Fir and Pine tribes especially are, in nine cases out 

 of every ten, planted too thick, and without good judg- 

 ment. In every case of making new plantations com- 

 posed of ConifercB, especially the Pine and Fir class, certain 

 subjects should be made specialities throughout the 

 whole plantation. These should be noted on the plan ; 

 others then may intervene as mere accessories, to be 

 removed in due time, so as to give room for such 

 specialities to develop themselves freely. This seems 

 to be the chief point in plantation-making. 



It is not good policy, in planting the Conifer cb tribes, 

 to use large specimens on any account ; generally, it is 

 three-fourths so much ready money sunk, because two 

 out of every three plants die — yea, three out of every 

 four, or even more, unless they have been shifted every 

 two or three seasons at the least. Then these trees 

 can be warranted by the nurseryman ; but if they have 

 not been so removed they may look even more luxu- 

 riant, and the price may be an inducement to the 

 purchaser ; but they are sure to die if not planted by 

 some most judicious and painstaking person, and even 



