Book IT. 



FORMING PLANTATIONS. 



641 



3945. By pitting. " Tlie pit having been dug for several months, the surface will therefore be en- 

 crusted by the rains, or probably covered v;ith weeds. The man first strikes the spade downwards to the 

 bottom^ two or three times, in order to loosen the soil ; then poaches it as if mixing mortar for the 

 builder ; he next lifts out a spadeful of the earth, or, if necessary, two spadefuls, so as to make room for 

 all the fibres, without their being anywise crowded together ; he then chops the rotten turf remaining in 

 the bottom, and levels the whole. The boy now plares the plant perfectly upright, an inch deeper than 

 when it stood in the nursery, and holds it firm in that position. The man trindles in the mould gently; 

 the boy gently moves the plant, not from side to side, but upwards and downwards, until tlie fibres be 

 covered. The man then fills in all the remaining mould; and immediately proceeds to chop and poach 

 the next pit, leaving the boy to set the plant upright, and to tread the mould about it. This in stiff' wet 

 soil he does lightly; but in sandy or gravelly soil he continues to tread until the soil no longer retains the 

 impression of his foot. The man has by this time got the pit ready for the next plant, the boy is alo 

 ready with it in his hand, and in this manner the oper.ition goes on. On very steep hangs which have 

 been pitted, the following rule ought to be ol>sei-ved in planting : To place the plant in the angle formed 

 by the acchvity and surface of the pit ; and in finishing, to raise the outer margin of the pit highest, 

 whereby the plant will be made to stand as if on level ground, and the moisture be retained in the hollow 

 of the angle, evidently to its advantage." {Plant. Kal. 167.) 



3946. Sir itenry Steuart states that the pitting system, as already practised by most nations, though by 

 some ignorantly and erroneously designated the Scotcii method, if duly regulated by science, must be the 

 best method for the planting of waste lands, or, in general, for large designs of wood, where the quality 

 of timber is the main object; although particular spots, in all extensive woodlands, might be advantageously 

 trenched and manured under peculiar circumstances. {Planter's Guide, 2d edit. p. 479.) 



3947. The slit method, either simply or by the T method, is not recommended by Sang ; but necessity 

 may justify its adoption occasionally. " We would not recommend planting by the slit, unless where 

 there is no more soil than is absolutely occupied by the fibres of the herbage which grows on the place. 

 Except on turf, it cannot i)e performed ; nor should it be practised, if the turf- be found three or four 

 inches thick. By pitting in summer, turf is capable of being converted into a proper mould in the space 

 of a few months ; and the expense of pitting, especially in small plantations, can never counterbalance 

 the risk of success in the eyes of an ardent planter. The most proper time to perform the operation of 

 slitting in the plants is when the surface is in a moist state. On all steeps the plant should be placed 

 towards the declivitv, that the moisture may fall to its roots ; that is to say, in planting, the spadesman 

 should stand highest, and the boy lowest on the bank, by which arrangement the plant will be inserted 

 at the lower angle of the slit." {Plant. Kal. 170.) 



3948. Planting iinth the diamond dibher, he says, " is the cheapest and most expeditious planting of 

 any we yet know, in cases where the soil is a sand or gravel, and the surface bare of herbage. The plate 

 of the dibber (j?g-.590. a) is made of good steel, and is four inches and a half broad where the iron handle 

 is welded to it ; each of the other two sides of the triangle is five inches long ; the thickness of the plate 

 is one fifth part of an inch, made thinner from the middle to the sides, till the edges become sharj). The 

 length of the iron handle is seven inches, and so strong as not to bend in working, which will require 

 six eighths of an inch square. The iron handle is furnished with a turned hilt, like the handle of a large 

 gim'et, both in its form and manner of being fixed on. The planter is furnished with a planting-bag, 

 tied round his waist, in which he carries the plants. A stroke is given with the dibber, a little aslant, 

 the point lying inwards; the handle of the dibber is then drawn towards the person, while its plate 

 remains within the ground : by this means a vacuity is formed between the back of the dibber and the 

 ground, into which the planter, with his other hand, introduces the loots of the seedling plants, being 

 careful to put them fully to the bottom of the opening : he then pulls out the dibber, so as not to displace 

 them, and gives the eased turf a smart stroke with the heel ; and thus is the plant completely firmed. 

 The greatest error the planter with this instrument can run into, is the imperfect introduction of the 

 roots. Green or unpractised hands are apt to double the roots, or sometimes to lay them across the 

 opening, instead of putting them straight down, as above directed. A careful man, however, will 

 become, if not a speedy, at least a good planter in one day ; and it is of more importance that he be sure 

 than quick. A careless or slovenly person should never be allowed to handle a dibher of this kind." 



3949. Planting with the planting-mattock {Jig. 590. b) is resorted to in rocky or other spots where pitting 



is impracticable. " The helve or handle 



590 



is three feet six inches long ; the mouth 

 is five inches broad, and is made sharp ; 

 the length from it to the eye, or helve, 

 is sixteen inches ; and it is used to pare 

 off the sward, heath, or other brush that 

 may happen to be in the way, jireviously 

 to easing the soil with the ojher end. 

 The small end tapers from the eye, and 

 terminates in a point, and is seventeen 

 inches long." By this instrumerit the 

 surface is skimmed off" for six or eight 

 inches in diameter, and with the pick- 

 end dug down six or eight inches deep, 

 bringing up any loose stones to the sur- 

 face ; by which means a place will be 

 prepared lor the reception of the plant, 

 little inferior to a pit. This instrument 

 may be used in many cases, when the plants to be planted are of small size, such as one-year larch seed- 

 lings, one vear nursed ; or two-year Scots pines, one year nursed ; and the expense is much less than by 

 the spade." {Plant. Kal. 385.) 



S9.">0. Planting with the forest-planter or ground adze {Jig. 590. c). " The helve is sixteen inches long, 

 the mouth is four inches and a half broad, and the length of the head is fourteen inches. The instrument 

 is used in planting hilly ground, previously prepared by the hand-mattock. '1 he person who performs the 

 work carries the plants in a close apron ; digs out the earth sufficiently to hold the roots of the plant ; and 

 sets and firms it without help from another : it is only useful when small plants are used, and in hilly or 

 rocky situations." {Plant. Kal. pref xxiv.) 



.3951. Pontes/ prefers planting Inj pitting, in general cases, the holes being made 

 during the preceding summer or winter, sufficiently large, but not so deep into a reten- 

 tive subsoil as to render them a receptacle for water. When the plants have been 

 brought from a distance, he strongly recommends puddling them previously to planting ; 

 if they seem very much dried, it would be still better to lay them in the ground for eight 

 or ten days, giving them a good soaking of water every second or third day, in order to 

 restore their vegetable powers ; for it well deserves notice, that a degree of moisture in 

 soil sufficient to support a plant recently or immediately taken from the nursery, would, 

 in the case of dry ones, prove so far insufficient, that most of them would die in'it. The 



T t 



