112 FOKESTS, WOODS, AND TEEES 



The wet moors are unsuitable for afforestation, as trees 

 cannot grow in sodden peat containing a large amount 

 o£ water. All the peaty moorlands, in which the common 

 plants are cotton - grass. Sphagnum, Scirpus caespitosus, 

 heather, cro wherry (Umpetrum nigrum), and purple moor- 

 grass {Molinia caerulea), cannot be planted with trees 

 as long as they remain in their present condition. The 

 soil is much too wet and too sour. Attempts have been 

 made to cover such areas with plantations, but it is doubtful 

 if this has ever been accomplished on commercial lines. 

 For trees to have any chance of success, a great deal of 

 preliminary work is necessary, as the peat must first be 

 thoroughly drained, so that all stagnant water is removed. 

 The upper surface of the peat, consisting of the roots of 

 cotton-grass, Scirpus, heather, etc., matted into a tough 

 fibrous sod, must be broken up and converted by decay into 

 mould, before young trees can secure a footing. The 

 removal of the upper layer of the peat to a depth of one 

 or two feet gives young trees a better soil, but this is 

 an expensive process. Probably the most economical 

 method is the system (Fig. 17) introduced from Belgium 

 into Scotland by Sir J. Stirling Maxwell. Shallow drains 

 are made a few feet apart. The turfs, cut out of the 

 drains, are placed face downwards on the intervening 

 ridges and left to weather for a year. By that time the 

 ground has begun to dry, the turfs have sunk considerably, 

 and the herbage below them has begun to decay. On each 

 inverted turf a young tree is planted, a handful of ordinary 

 soil or sand being put in with each plant. Further 

 particulars of the Belgian system of planting on peat 

 moors will be found in Trans. Boy. Scot. Arbor. Sac. xx. 

 1-7 (1907), and xxviii. 72-78 (1914). 



Planting in the peat moors will scarcely ever be 

 directly profitable, as the timber produced does not justify 

 the expense. Nevertheless there is much to be said in 

 favour of planting narrow belts of trees in the heather 

 moor immediately above areas that are being afforested 

 in the adjoining hill pasture. In hilly and mountainous 



