CHAPTER III 



ESTABLISHMENT OF WOODS 



THOUGH it is not always possible, nor is it entirely desirable, 

 to make elaborate preparations for the final planting of the 

 young tree from the nursery, yet some preliminary treatment 

 of the ground is usually necessary. 



Preparation of the site. Though little or no actual cultivation 

 of the ground is necessary, it is most important that the natural 

 herbage of the ground should be kept in check. This is a point to 

 which, as a rule, far too little attention is given. 



Usually the young tree is removed from the nursery where it 

 has received care and attention ; it is planted out amongst a rank 

 growth of weeds ; and it is expected to contend with them. As a 

 result, the young trees are weakened, and the subsequent cleaning 

 is usually a more expensive operation than if the site had been 

 properly cleaned beforehand, and had been weeded during the 

 earlier stages of the seedling's growth. Not only does it cost 

 more, but the trees are weakened and therefore are more subject to 

 disease' if attention is not paid to the ground before planting out. 



Weeds. 



Weeds are chiefly troublesome in the earlier stages of a wood, 

 although in pure woods of light-demanding species, twining plants, 

 such as honeysuckle, etc., may be troublesome at a later stage. The 

 slower the growth when young, the greater is the danger of the 

 trees being overgrown and suppressed by the weeds. 



This accounts for many of the failures to make forestry pay. In one instance, 

 the author visited an estate where insufficient attention had been given to this. It 

 cost £5 per acre to clean the land, and then the trees already had been very much 

 weakened. How can forestry pay under such conditions ? 



