APPENDIX. 127 



quaint, are full of great practical wisdom, which many of us 

 would be wise to take to heart. For example : 



" Where wet white moss and stunted heath 

 Show a hard sandy crust beneath, 

 With holes you must not dig that spot, 

 But trench it deep and let it rot. 

 Remember that whate'er you do, 

 That crust must quite be broken through, 

 For it holds water like a plate, 

 And roots of trees can't penetrate. 

 Under this crust I've always found there lay 

 A stratum, fit for oak, of solid clay." 

 Again : 



" Where furze and fern will thrive and heath is long, 

 The land is good and all the trees grow strong." 



These are clearly lessons due to an observing eye, and if 

 such be ever required it is this selection of soil for planting. 



The glib statements of the uninitiated in regard to plant- 

 ing should be received cum grano salts. 



If, then, we have shown the necessity of choice and selec- 

 tion in commercial planting we may pass on to those 

 areas which have at one time been under cultivation, but 

 which, due to decline in agricultural prosperity, have ceased 

 to be remunerative. Many of these with a slight return to 

 prosperity will again be cultivated ; but some are too poor 

 to pay for tillage even should better prices of produce 

 prevail. These it may be wise to plant. Here, again, a 

 certain amount of selection will be needed, though such will 

 apply more to the trees to be planted than to the fitness or 

 unfitness of the soil for planting. 



To establish a plantation on such sites is not an easy 

 matter, for the soil is usually crude and often lacking in 

 organic matter, and there is often no surface herbage to 

 render the protection which young trees need and love. 



Such land as this can usually be taken over by the land- 



