294 AFFORESTATION OF WASTE LANDS 



a certain point. When fixing this planting limit it is as well 

 to be on the safe side, and when in doubt to show the land as 

 unplantable. 



Having walked along and marked on the map the planting 

 limit, the officer traverses the area below it and notes on his 

 map the depth and character of soil, the vegetation, and the 

 growth of any trees or woods he may come across ; he also 

 sketches in any swamps or rocky areas which are unplantable, 

 and shows by arrows the direction of the prevailing wind, this 

 being often well indicated by the bending of the tops and 

 branches of isolated trees or shrubs. 



When traversing the area, care should be taken to examine 

 thoroughly the soil by making holes with a spade at reasonable 

 distances apart. A soil borer is not very reliable. A special 

 look-out should be kept for deep peat and for the presence of 

 a ' pan ', or hard layer of impermeable matter which may lie 

 at varying depths from the surface. If a pan is found within 

 two feet of the surface it will have to be broken through before 

 planting, and this is expensive. A pan is often found on 

 sandy soils, the clay being washed out of the sand and forming 

 a hard layer at some depth beneath the surface. 



It is also necessary to make full notes on the vegetation. 

 Many indications are given by the nature of the vegetation as 

 regards the suitability of the soil and the most suitable species 

 to be planted. This subject has not yet been fully worked 

 up, and more information is required before one can lay down 

 rules, but Sphagnum moss, Cotton grasses, and bog-asphodel 

 are plants which indicate ground where planting is unsuitable. 

 Land covered with bell-heather and ling mixed with any of 

 the above plants is of the very poorest quality, while bell- 

 heather and ling on dry land, and mixed plentifully with good 

 pasture grasses, is of fairly good planting value. Bracken and 

 ferns indicate good, well aerated planting-ground, and gorse 

 or bell-heather with plenty of pasture grass is also good. 

 When ling and grass are found, especially if the ling is stunted, 



