DRAINING. 187 



so little has been done for the benefit of trees, and yet trees will not 

 grow to perfection in a cold wet soil. A crop of trees is just as liable 

 to be retarded in their growth from a wet soil as a crop of wheat. The 

 management of woods and plantations is neglected in many respects, and 

 none more so than in the case of drainage. The main drains from fields 

 are even in many cases run through the fence which divides the fields 

 from the woods, and there allowed to discharge themselves as they best 

 may. How often do we find trees making an attempt to grow in wet 

 soils, which in winter freeze and lie in one solid mass around the 

 roots of the trees ! I have before stated that air is essential in the soil 

 where agricultural crops are grown ; it is also as necessary for the benefit 

 of the growth of trees. Trees also grow better when the heat of the sun 

 is admitted into the soil, arid of course this cannot be the case where 

 there is a quantity of water constantly in the soil. I have often seen 

 young trees planted in wet swampy places, where the greater portion of 

 them died ; and the planters have blamed nurserymen for supplying 

 inferior plants, whereas the cause of the failure was in the want of 

 drainage. I was once called upon to inspect and report upon an avenue 

 of hardwood trees which had been planted some four years previous to 

 my visit. I found nearly all the trees in a very unhealthy state, and 

 the prospect was that, if there were not some remedy at hand, they would 

 all die in a short time. After a minute inspection, I found that the 

 soil alongside the carriage-drive was of a clayey nature, and the sub- 

 soil the same. When the trees were planted, large pits were very pro- 

 perly made for them, the stiff soil which was removed from these pits 

 being carted away to a distance, while . a light loam soil, mixed with 

 rotten manure, was put in the pits about the roots of the plants. The 

 consequence was that, the loam being of a lighter nature than the clay, 

 the surface-water ran into the pits, and remained there in a sour stag- 

 nant state, which naturally prevented the trees from growing. I recom- 

 mended that a drain should be made the whole length of the row of 

 trees, at a distance of about five yards from them, into which small 

 drains were run from the pits. The consequence was that the water 

 went freely through the soil in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 roots of the trees, and passed away in the drains after refreshing but not 

 souring the roots as forfnerly. 



Drainage must be applied to tree-culture in a different mode than 

 that which is employed in the case of field crops, inasmuch as the roots 

 of the trees are strong and remain in the soil for a long length of time, 

 and every year run further and deeper into the soil, while agricultural 

 crops are only for the season, and their roots are tender. If, therefore, 

 covered drains with pipe-tiles were used for drying woodlands, the roots 



