126 ARTIFICIAL REFORESTATION 



Age of Plants. — ''In every conifer plantation aimed at restocking 

 mountain slopes you should follow the principle of having the plants 

 as young as possible." 



The ages indicated below vary according to the nature of the species, 

 the altitude of the nursery, and according to whether the plants are 

 transplanted or not: Cypress, 2 to 3 years; fir, 3 to 4; spruce, 3 to 4; 

 larch, 2 to 4; cedar, 2 to 3; Scotch pine, mountain pine, Corsican pine, 

 Austrian pine, and Cevennes pine, 2 years (occasionally 3) ; aleppo pine, 

 preferably 1 year (sometimes 2); cembric pine 3 to 5; ash, 2 to 6; beech, 

 1 to 5; chestnut, 1 to 4; sessile oak, 1 to 4; other broadleaves, 2 to 6. 

 Older plants, 4 to 5 years old, are used in certain limestone soils where 

 the ground is badly heaved by the frost, on very steep slopes where 

 snowslides are feared and where the plants may be torn out if they 

 are not deep-rooted, and also on unstable shallow ground where there 

 is danger that the young plants may be covered with debris already 

 eroded. The natural larch stock secured from neighboring stands is 

 usually ball-planted at 5 to 8 years of age. 



At Barcelonette (Basses-Alpes) the local rule still holds that the 

 younger the plants the better the success. Austrian pine is ordinarily 

 used at 2 to 3 years of age with 4 to 5 year plants on exceptionally diffi- 

 cult and steep talus. Larch and mountain pine are used at 2 years of 

 age and cembric pine at 3 to 5 years, the stock rarely being transplanted. 

 (See also p. 165.) 



Time to Plant. — It has been found best to plant coniferous trees in 

 the spring because the soil is then fresh and the plants will have one 

 whole growing season for development before the severe autumn weather. 

 If solidly rooted in the soil they can resist to better advantage the frost, 

 erosion, sliding snow, and drought, as well as the wash of heavy rains. 

 The autumn, however, is sometimes used for planting conifers at high 

 altitudes because of the shortness of the working season. 



The deciduous species, which are habitually planted at lower altitudes, 

 may be set out in the spring before the beginning of vegetation but 

 ordinarily this is not done until the autumn. Soil and climate have 

 weight in deciding upon the proper season. For example, in the Ardeche 

 the autumn plantations alone give satisfactory results on limestone soils 

 situated at low altitudes. Planting is preferably done also in the autumn 

 in the Aude since frosts are rare at this season and because in the spring 

 there are often prolonged rains which may completely wash out the soil 

 from around the plants. Dinner stated that in the Maritime Alps, in 

 the zone where it does not freeze hard in winter, he can plant in the 

 fall, but higher up in the mountains he must plant entirely in the 

 spring. 



At Marseilles in the forest of La Gardiole the best time for planting on 



