MODES OF FOREST PLANTING. 59 
for which a few thousand plants were furnished. A few 
years after the formation of these plantations, the one-year 
seedling larch plants which had been employed could not be 
distinguished from those inserted at the age of two years. 
Although one-year-old seedling larches only range from four 
to seven inches in height, yet when they are transplanted into 
favourable moorland, they often double their height during 
the first year of their transplanted growth. No seedling 
takes more readily to the ground or overcomes the check of 
transplantation with greater facility. 
Before finishing my remarks on notch planting with the 
small spade, or hand-iron, it is necessary to state that this 
mode is the most suitable only for moorland where the sur- 
face is bare, and the heath not much above the height of the 
plants. If the herbage is grassy, or composed of other vegeta- 
tion than heath, stronger plants are necessary than those 
adapted for being inserted by this implement; or if the sur- 
face soil is composed of moss, or pure peat earth, of a greater 
depth than the small spade can easily strike through, it should 
not be employed. Pure peat is commonly found the prevail- 
ing surface soil of moorland at a high altitude, and being 
destitute of a sufficient mixture of sand, the plants do not 
grow freely until they reach the subsoil. For this reason, the 
quality of the surface soil, as well as that of the vegeta- 
tion, should be taken into account in deciding on the mode of 
planting, and on the plants to be employed. 
On rocky ground, where it is difficult to obtain a cover of 
wood, the hand-iron is often found most suitable; it enters 
the crevices and makes way for the insertion of young plants, 
where larger tools would not penetrate. 
In such places the seeds of pines are sometimes sown, but 
one-year seedling plants notched are generally most successful. 
This implement is also to be preferred in the formation of 
plantations on bare sandy links.—(See Sza-sIDE PLANTING.) 
Notch planting by the common spade—As already noticed, a 
well-worn common garden spade is far better adapted for the 
work than any other; being lighter, more wieldy, and being 
