52 PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



boys to hold the trees are often not employed, and the 

 men are expected to hold and plant at the same time. 

 This in itself renders the work imperfect, as it cannot, 

 under these conditions, be properly performed. 



We recommend then, at the outset, that when pit- 

 planting boys be employed to hold the trees. The 

 forester having determined the distances of his hard 

 woods and nurses, the kinds and distribution of his 

 trees, and set off his areas or districts, will (the trees 

 being on the spot, as already described) lay off his 

 line or lines, and proceed at once with the planting. 

 If he decides upon first planting his hard woods, he 

 will proceed as follows : A trustworthy man, who will 

 henceforth be employed in laying out the trees, will 

 place them in the holes as arranged. The planters 

 will follow, and the boys will hold the trees in the 

 holes to the same depth as they came from the nursery. 

 If the hole is too deep (as it should be), a layer of cut 

 turf or mould should be put in until the correct depth 

 is secured. The boy, holding the tree in the centre 

 of the hole and arranging the root-fibres, will, as the 

 mould is put in, lift the tree up and down slightly, so 

 that it may penetrate among the fibres ; and the 

 planter for this purpose should select the finest mould 

 he can find. He will then put in the whole of the soil, 

 and not until the hole is full will he tread in the tree. 



This, perhaps, in planting, is the most important 

 instruction that can be given. 



The too common practice is to ram in the soil with 

 the heel as the work proceeds, and often crush a lump 

 (unbroken) on to the delicate root-fibres instead of 

 first breaking it up with the spade. The fine roots 



