638 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



practise planting, but offer no arguments against sowing where circumstances are suit- 

 able. Sang says, " It is an opinion very generally entertained, that planted timber can 

 never, in any case, be equal in durability and value to that which is sown. We certainly 

 feel ourselves inclined to support this opinion, although we readily admit that the matter 

 has not been so fully established, from experiment, as to amount to positive proof. But 

 although we have not met with decided evidence, to enable us to determine on the com- 

 parative excellence of timber raised from seeds, without being replanted, over such as 

 has been raised from replanted trees, we are left in no doubt as to the preference, in re- 

 spect of growth, of those trees which are sown, over such as are planted." (^Plant. Kal. 

 43.) He particularly prefers this mode for raising extensive tracts of the Scotch pine 

 and larch (p. 430.), and is decidedly of opinion, " that every kind of forest tree will suc- 

 ceed better by being reared from seeds in the place where it is to grow to maturity, than 

 by being raised in any nursery whatever, and thence transplanted into the forest." 

 (p. 344.) Dr. Yule [Caled. Hort. Mem. ii.), in a long paper on trees, strongly recom- 

 mends sowing where the trees are finally to remain. "It is," says he, " a well ascer- 

 tained fact, that seedlings allowed to remain in their original station, will, in a few 

 seasons, far overtop the common nursed plants several years older." 



S9S7. The opinion of Dr. Yule seems to be founded on the idea that the tap-root is of great importance 

 to grown up trees, and that when this is once cut off by transplanting, the plant has not a power of re- 

 newing it. That the tap-root is of the utmost consequence for the first three or four years, perhaps for a 

 longer period, is obvious, from the economy of nature at that age of the plant ; but that it can be of no 

 great consequence to full-grown trees, appears highly probable from the fact, that when such trees are 

 cut down, the tap-root is seldom to be distinguished from the others. The opinion that young plants 

 have not the power of renewing their tap-root, will, we believe, be found inconsistent with fact ; and we 

 may appeal to nurserymen, who raise the oak and horse-chestnut from seed. It is customary when these 

 are sown in drills, to cut off their tap-roots without removing the plants at the end of tlie second year's 

 growth, and when, at the end of the third or fourth year, they are taken up, they will be found to have 

 acquired other tap-roots, not indeed so strong as the first would have been had they remained, but suf- 

 ficient to establish the fact of the pou'cr of renewal. We may also refer to the experiment recorded by 

 Forsyth, which at once proves that trees have a power of renewing their tap-roots, and the great ad- 

 vantages from cutting down trees after two or three years' planting. Forsyth " transplanted a bed of 

 oak-plants, cutting the tap roots near to some of the side-roots or fibres springing from them. In the 

 second year after, he headed one half of the plants down, and left the other half to nature. In the first 

 season, those headed down made shoots six feet long and upwards, and completely covered the head of 

 the old stem, leaving only a faint cicatrix, and produced new tap-roots upwards of two feet and a half 

 long. That half of the plants that were not headed, were not one fourth the size of the others. One of 

 the former is now eighteen feet high, and fifteen inches in circumference, at six inches from the ground : 

 one of the largest of the latter measures only five feet and a half in height, and three inches and three 

 quarters in circumference, at six inches from the ground." {Tr. on Fruit Trees, 4to. edit. 144.) The pine 

 and fir tribes receive most check by transplanting; and when removed at the age of four or five years, 

 they seldom arrive at trees afterwards ; those we should, on most occasions, prefer to sow, especially upon 

 mountainous tracts. But for all trees which stole, and in tolerable soils and situations, planting strong 

 ])lants, and cutting them down two or three years afterwards, will, we think, all circumstances considered, 

 be found preferable to sowing. If we made an exception, it would be for the oak in poor soils, which we 

 Would raise from the acorn in Cruikshank's manner. Sir Henry Steuart {Planter's Guide, 2d edit. p. 423.) 

 concurs in this opinion, with respect to deciduous trees, and considers that as the pine and fir tribes receive 

 " the greatest check from transplanting ; and as, when planted at four and five years old, they do not 

 readily grow to timber, it is clear that they should always be sowed, or at least planted, very young, in 

 high and cold regions." 



S928. On the subject of disposing the plants in plantations, there are different opinions ; 

 ^some advising rows, others quincunx, but the greater number planting irregularly. 

 According to Marshal, " the preference to be given to the row, or the random culture, 

 rests in some measure upon the nature and situation of the land to be stocked with 

 plants. Against steep hangs, where the plough cannot be conveniently used in cleaning 

 and cultivating the interspaces, during the infancy of the wood, either method may be 

 adopted ; and if plants are to be put in, the quincunx manner will be found preferable to 

 any. But in more level situations, we cannot allow any liberty of choice : ihe drill or 

 row manner is undoubtedly the most eligible." (Plant, and Rur. Orn. p. 123.) Pontey 

 considers it of much less consequence than most people imagine, whether trees are 

 planted regularly or irregularly, as in either case the whole of the soil will be occupied 

 by the roots and the surface by the shoots. Sang and Nicol only plant in rows where 

 culture with the horse-hoe is to be adopted. In sowing for woods and copses, the former 

 places the patches six feet asunder and in the quincunx order. " It has been demon- 

 strated {Farmer's Mag. vol. vii. p. 409.), that the closest order in which it is possible to 

 place a number of points upon a plain surface, not nearer than a given distance from each 

 other, is in the angles of hexagons with a plant in the centre of each hexagon." Hence 

 it is argued, that this order of trees is the most economical; as the same quantity of 

 ground will contain a greater quantity of trees, by 15 per cent, when planted in this 

 form than in any other. {Gen. Rep. ii. 287.) It is almost needless to observe, that 

 hedge plants should be placed at regular distances in the lines, and also the trees, when 

 those are introduced in hedges. Osier plantations, and all such as like them require the 

 soil to be dug every year, or every two years, during their existence, should also be 

 planted in regular rows. 



3929. The distances at which the plants are placed must depend on different circum- 

 stances, but chiefly on the situation and soil. 



