114 THE NEW FORESTRY. 



same season, but the species usually grown for timber in this 

 country are not numerous, and the best season to plant any of 

 them is undoubtedly the autumn, from August till the end of 

 October, and what cannot be got out during these months 

 should be held over till April and May. In the south planting 

 may be begun in March. The month of August is early, some 

 may think, but it must be remembered that where large areas 

 have to be planted it is necessary to begin as soon as possible. 

 The only objection to planting in August or September is the 

 condition of the soil. If it be sufficiently moist to work it will 

 do, and there is little fear of failure.' We have purposely tested 

 autumn, winter, and spring planting on a large scale and often, 

 both in the nursery and in the woods, and we have recom- 

 mended autumn and late spring planting to nurserymen and 

 foresters who have tried it, and their experience has been the 

 same as our own, viz., that these two seasons are by far the 

 most favourable, and winter, from November to March, the 

 worst. Some of the pines, like the Corsican fir and Pinus- 

 pina$ter, are bad transplanters^-the first-named especially, 

 which often dies off wholesale, and always fails to a greater 

 or lesser extent when planted at the dead seasons of the year, 

 just as the common holly does ; but in early autumn, or late in 

 spring, it is quite equal to the Scotch fir as a transplanter, 

 and the Scotdh fir is one of the best, although it too fails at 

 times. Danger of excessive evaporation from tne foliage in 

 autumn and spring is not so great as Dr. Lindley seems to 

 think. We have repeatedly transplanted large : breadths of 

 Scotch, Corsican, and Austrian firs in the home nursery, 

 throughout the whole of May and sometimes far into June,, 

 when the young shoots were from two to three inches long and 

 very soft and tender, and lost hardly any plants. The young 

 leaves and side shoots became limp and drooped for a few 

 days, but one good watering as the rows were planted was 

 sufficient to tide them over the first few days, when all danger 

 was over. Some of. the Edinburgh nurserymen who saw our 

 stock annually have repeated our experiments on a larger scale 

 with the most satisfactory results. Large plants, two years 

 transplanted, will move equally well at the same season 

 provided the roots are well " puddled " at planting or watered, 

 afterwards. Very early or very late removal from the nursery 

 to the open land is not,- however, to be recommended 

 if the ground be dry, as watering extensive young plan- 

 tations is out of the question unless labour is plentiful. 

 It was our experience in late spring planting that 



