78 FORESTRY WORK 



3. Ploughing Strips. 



To save the expense of ploughing the whole area, strips 

 3 or 4 furrows wide may be ploughed every 4 feet or so, 

 in which to plant the trees. They should be left for a 

 year to allow the turf to rot and settle down if it is very 

 thick. 



4. Stripping off the Turf (1) By Ploughing. 



This is simply done by ploughing across the ground 

 and then coming back in the same furrow, thus throwing 

 a strip of turf on either side and leaving a strip of bare 

 soil 14 inches to 18 inches wide, according to the size of 

 the plough. 



The overturned turf will also serve to keep the herbage 

 from encroaching on the plants for a year or two. 



The trees may then be planted by any method viz., 

 pitting, notching, dibbling, etc. Where the turf is thick 

 and springy, it will often fall back into the furrow, and 

 to prevent this a man should follow the plough and tread 

 it down. 



A plough can be made, however, to cut the turf clear, 

 with two coulters and a base-plate fixed to the bottom 

 of the plough and carried up in a slanting direction. This 

 lifts the turf clear of the soil, and the " turn-furrow," 

 which should be slightly longer than on ordinary ploughs, 

 and should have a more exaggerated curve, will throw the 

 turf clear of the edge and prevent it falling back. 



Ploughed strips are especially useful on hillsides, because 

 they serve to catch the rain-water as it runs down the 



