88 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 
a much less distance may sometimes be sufficient. In packing 
the soil over the cuttings great pains should be taken to get it 
very solid around the lower end, and if the soil is very dry, the 
firmest pressure of the full weight of a man over the base of each 
cutting is not too great; in fact, when the soil is dry it cannot be 
made too firm over the cutting. When the soil is moist, how- 
ever, only enough pressure should be used to bring the par- 
ticles in close contact and close up the air spaces. 
The Cultivation of Cuttings should commence shortly 
after they are planted, and the top soil should be kept loosened 
to the depth of about three inches, which, while not disturbing 
the solid soil around the base of the cuttings, prevents evapora- 
tion from the soil. 
Time of Planting Cuttings. Spring cuttings may be 
planted at once where they are to grow. Autumn cuttings may 
be planted out at once, provided the land is not wet, but when 
planted at this season they should be covered with soil turned 
toward them with a plow. In the spring this covering should 
be raked off before the buds swell. The ground being warm in 
autumn often causes autumn-planted cuttings of some kinds to 
root before cold weather sets in, and if made up before the first 
of October they may thus score quite a gain over spring-planted 
cuttings. If not desirable to plant in the autumn, the bundles 
of cuttings may be kept over winter, buried in moist soil, prefer- 
ably that which is somewhat sandy, where there is no standing 
water; but much care should be taken to keep them from dry- 
ing out. To this end the bundles should be buried so as not to 
touch each other, and have two or three inches of soil packed in 
between them. If they are kept in a cellar, moist sawdust will 
be found to be good material to keep them in. 
The amount of growth made by cuttings varies much, accord- 
ing to the kind of plant, size of cuttings, soil, etc. The most of 
our willows will make a growth of three or four feet, on good 
soil, in one season, from ordinary cuttings. 
The Solar Pit. There are many trees that will not grow 
from cuttings unless they have their roots started a little before 
planting. This is most easily accomplished by means of what is 
called the “solar pit,” which owes its success to the fact that cut- 
tings root first at the warmer end. It is made and used as fol- 
