CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS—FEBRUARY. 5 
are intended for hedges or forest trees; and as all sorts of 
plants are apt to suffer most from removal after having grown 
vigorously, the operation will be found very useful on every 
kind of plant that is apt to produce bare roots destitute of 
that fibrous bushiness so necessary to successful transplanta- 
tion. It is also necessary in all cases where plants stand so 
close in lines as to be destitute of the space required for the 
growth of another season; and in such circumstances ample 
space should be afforded beyond that which the plants 
formerly occupied. It is also useful in cases where the forest 
ground is not ready to receive the plants, as it retards their 
exuberance, improves their roots, and keeps them in a fit 
state for being transplanted a year or two afterwards. Open 
weather in any of the winter months is suitable for this work, 
which should now be completed. 
If the weather is open and the ground sufficiently dry, the 
end of this month is a good time for sowing beech, ash, syca- 
more, elm, etc., as thus they are generally less liable to be 
injured by late spring frosts than if sown at an earlier period. 
With equal quantities of clay and of horse-droppings, 
thoroughly mixed with water, prepare for grafting. Thus 
prepared, the mixture suits the purpose far better than if 
only made up at the time of grafting, which is generally in 
the end of March. 
MARCH. 
The thinning of plantations should be completed by this 
time, for after the buds begin to expand, trees are much more 
sensitive of cold, and the sudden admission of cool air has 
an injurious effect. This is often apparent, particularly on 
larches when thinned late in spring, compared with those 
that have undergone that operation at an earlier period of the 
season. 
The formation of plantations of all deciduous trees should 
be completed in this month, or as soon as possible, and all 
vacancies or failures in former plantations filled up. 
