70 j\[ETHODS OF PLANTING 



In tlic making of such pits as are above do- 

 scribed, I generally let the work by contract, and I 

 cause the contractor to cut off the upper turf as 

 thinly as possible, and lay it on one side of the 

 intended pit ; and in taking out the soil, in the act 

 of making the pit, I cause him to lay it upon the 

 opposite side, which comes to be of great advantage 

 in the act of planting: and where the soil is hard in 

 the pit, the pick must be used to open it up to the 

 desired depth. I have generally got pits made for 

 hard wood, to the dimensions already named, for 

 Is. 6d. per hundred, and those for fii-s, for Is. per 

 hundred ; but if the pits have to be made among 

 old roots, where large trees have formerly been, 

 6d. more per hundred in each case may be con- 

 sidered a fair price. 



In the case of planting up a piece of ground 

 among old roots, the remains of former trees, the 

 pits should be made at least two months pre- 

 vious to commencing to plant in them ; by having 

 the soil in the pits a few weeks exposed to the 

 influence of the atmosphere, it becomes much 

 more healthy and congenial to the roots of young 

 plants. 



The manner of planting the young trees in those 

 pits must be regulated according to the nature of 

 the situation of the ground to be planted : that is, 

 if the situation be a low sheltered one, I plant 

 a tree in the centre of each pit, and, cutting the 



