PKEPAEING THE PLANTING AREA 77 



as lupins, lucerne, or tares, which would enrich the soil. 

 The crop would not be heavy on most forest land and 

 would not pay as a farm crop, but the soil would be im- 

 proved, the turf rotted, and the operation of planting by 

 any method made easier. The benefit of the nitrogen 

 provided by the crop will be noticeable in the growth of the 

 plants, and will repay the cost of seed, labour, and rent. 

 There are three methods of disposing of the crop viz. : 



(1) It can be fed off by sheep in the case of tares or 

 lucerne. 



(2) It can be ploughed in. 



(3) It can be allowed to die down and form a layer of 

 humus on the top of the soil. 



The latter is perhaps the best method, as the soil will 

 still benefit from the humus without the cost of ploughing. 



Where shallow moorpan or ironpan is met with, it can 

 often be dealt with by horse-drawn subsoil ploughs, but 

 when it is too deep for this it is necessary to use steam 

 subsoil ploughs, or to break it through by cutting drains 

 about 12 feet apart and throwing the soil taken out on to 

 the spaces between them to raise the level of the soil. 



The advantage obtained from ploughing is that smaller 

 plants can be used, and notched in the case of conifers, 

 the initial cost of plants and planting thus being greatly 

 reduced, and the cost of cleaning plants reduced to a 

 minimum. 



Hardwoods transplants should still be pitted; but as 

 smaller plants will be used, the pits will be smaller and 

 more cheaply made, either with the common or cylindrical 

 spades. 



