MODES OF FOREST PLANTING. 61 
altitude, the surrounding hills afford a good shelter, 3000 
plants are sufficient ; but unless the shelter is ample, the out- 
sides should be made closer than the interior of the woods. 
The proportions of the kinds depend on the quality of the 
soil, but that most common is two-thirds of Scotch pine and 
one-third of larch. With these regularly mixed the planta- 
tion may be thinned out, so that ultimately it may consist 
either of a mixture, or of any one of these kinds, as may, 
from the appearance of the trees when somewhat advanced, 
be considered most profitable. Where the larch thrives, it is 
the most profitable of any tree; but it is subject to many 
casualties, and forms too precarious a crop to consist purely of 
the genus, except on the surest ground,—on the slopes of 
ravines, along the alluvial banks of rivers, and in all situa- 
tions where the soil, though somewhat moist, is open and free 
from stagnant water. The same description of soil is also 
adapted for the spruce fir, but the spruce fir is not suitable 
for so high an altitude as the larch. Spruce grows well on a 
level surface, and being less subject to disease, the tree may 
be formed into masses by itself on favourable soil, where it 
may be allowed to stand at a closeness which would be ruin- 
ous to larch. Although the spruce is often planted on dry 
soil as shelter to hardwood, etc., yet it never becomes valuable 
timber in ground where its roots are undermined by drought. 
Respecting the Scotch pine, there is no situation, however 
dry, where it will not sustain itself; provided it has taken 
root. It accommodates itself to a greater variety of soil than 
any other tree, and is therefore employed in forming a mix- 
ture in all plantations on rough exposures, and where there is 
a doubt of other sorts growing, in consequence of the soil 
being of inferior quality. The cost of forming plantations 
varies according to the quality of the plants required for the 
soil, and their price at the time. Plantations of the cheapest 
description are formed by notching on good moorland, with a 
herbage of heath; a common proportion and price per acre 
are as follows :— 
