8 CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS—-APRIL. 
Weed all seed-beds of last year, and dig the alleys; dig 
between the lines of transplanted plants, raking and smooth- 
ing down the ground ten days or a fortnight thereafter, which 
will effect the destruction of seedling weeds. The surface of 
the beds of oak, chestnut, beech, etc., which were not finished 
off at the time of sowing, should now be raked smooth, which 
will have the effect of removing clods, destroying the weeds, 
and adapting the soil for the springing of the crop. 
Prune laurels and all sorts of evergreen shrubs. 
The casualties which forest trees suffer by frost are gene- 
rally much greater during this and the two subsequent months, 
than at any other season of the year, and they are most apt to 
happen after warm weather in March and April; it is there- 
fore advisable to protect the beds of one-year-old seedling 
larch, silver-fir, also those of hawthorn, which were sown early 
in spring, and towards the end of this month the recently 
sown beech, sycamore, ash, chestnut, etc. 
Thave found that the easiest way of protecting these is to col- 
lect the spray or small twigs of broom, spruce, silver-fir, Portugal 
or common laurel, and to stick the twigs into the beds in an 
upright position, which forms a shade and shelter for the 
young plants. The cuttings of beech hedges are also suitable 
when scattered on the surface of the beds, as such admit the 
influence of the atmosphere, and do not retain much moisture. 
It is found that although the twigs do not form a complete 
cover, yet if they form a shade from the warm sunshine 
succeeding a night of frost, the plants are generally safe. In 
the absence of this precaution I have found that in many 
situations, larch and silver-fir of one and two years old are on 
an average headed down or deprived of their leaders once 
every three or four years, which reduces them more than fifty 
per cent. in value. Although nothing makes a more complete 
or handy protection than the spray of the silver-fir, yet it 
should not be adopted where the slightest fear exists of the 
trees being infected with disease. 
Fork out perennial rooted weeds where they appear through- 
out the nursery ground. 
