22 PREPARING OF GROUND 



protection of young plantations, the work should 

 be particularly Avell executed ; for if it be badly 

 done, and a part of the fence be broken down 

 by any slight accident, cattle may get in, and do 

 more damage in one night than could be well re- 

 covered in the course of some years. This I have 

 experienced so frequently, that I here beg to advise 

 all proprietors to be most strict in the executing of 

 such a piece of work, where, in fact, the wealth of 

 their estates is at stake. If the fencing should be 

 set by contract, as is often the case, the contractor 

 should be bound to keep his work good for three 

 years after it is finished ; under this engagement, 

 he will, for his own sake, be anxious to do his work 

 well. 



SECTION IV. PREPARING OF GROUND FOR YOUNG 



TREES. 



Some practical foresters have maintained that all 

 ground, previous to its being planted with young 

 forest trees, ought to undergo a course of prepa- 

 ration by trenching or ploughing, and by having 

 lime or manure in some way or other applied to 

 the land. Such a course of preparation as either of 

 the above may be very proper in some cases, but is 

 by no means always either necessary or profitable 

 in the end. As I have very often been questioned 

 by proprietors relative to the utility of trenching, 



