148 THE REARING OF 



well or otherwise, according as tliej may be atten- 

 ilecl to, to train them up as children in the way 

 they should go, it is a matter of the first im- 

 portance in good forestry, that the manager be 

 well acquainted with the circumstances which re- 

 tard the progress of young trees, as well as those 

 which are known to be favourable to their healthy 

 development. Being myself well aware from past 

 experience of the extensive damage which is done 

 to young hard-wood plantations in consequence of 

 their being neglected in their young state, I shall 

 here lay down at some length the method which 

 ought to be pursued in order to have healthy and 

 valuable hard-wood trees — dwelHng more particu- 

 larly upon the system which ought to be adopted 

 in rearing till the trees attain twenty-five years of 

 age ; after which time, if they have been properly 

 attended to, little care is required as regards trees 

 individually, except to give them room as they 

 advance in size. 



Suppose that a tract of ground has been planted 

 with a mixture of young hard-wood trees at ten 

 feet distance from each other, and that the ground 

 between them has been planted with firs for the 

 sake of giving shelter, in such a manner as to 

 make the plants over the whole ground stand 

 at about three and a half feet distance. If the 

 ground thus planted have been properly drained 

 previous to the trees being planted, and the situa- 



