ON SEA-SIDE PLANTING. 113 
distance in severe exposure, the principal part being pines, 
which are generally obtained at a small price. 
Screen fences for protection are of the greatest value in 
plantations exposed to the sea-breeze. These fences may be 
composed of turf, brushwood, or any material most convenient 
that will afford shelter, and the higher they are built their 
influence will extend over the greater space. Where the 
thinnings of a young Scotch fir plantation are at hand nothing 
will be found more effectual or more cheap in the erection. 
At the distance of every 20, 50, or 100 yards, according to 
the severity of the exposure and the figure of the surface, 
‘another screen fence should be raised, and so on till the more 
‘sheltered ground is reached where screens are unnecessary. 
Stone dykes are least efficient, and cannot readily be formed 
of a great height. They are sometimes, however, of great use 
‘in supporting the thinnings of young fir-trees laid against 
them, which raise a shelter to a considerable height ; the wind 
acting on such material loses its force, and spreads a mild 
and mollifying calm around the space, like the influence of a 
hedge. Besides the ordinary screen fences in severe situations, 
an open cover of brushwood, spread on the surface of the 
ground, is often found of great use in a newly formed planta- 
tion, even where the soil is not apt to drift. Although the 
outskirts of plantations, under the most skilful treatment, on 
an inhospitable exposure, are often sadly disfigured, yet at 
every pace as you advance to their interior the trees become 
taller and more shapely ; and on a level surface the tops of 
the trees form a gentle ascent until the shelter becomes perfect. 
The preparation of plants for sea-side planting is a very 
important matter. Not only is it necessary that the plants 
should be grown in an open and airy situation, but they 
should stand individually at such distances apart as to afford 
free scope for the play of the atmosphere all around them. 
And in all cases, particularly with respect to the sorts that 
are apt to produce bare roots, such as the various species of 
pines, they should be removed in the nursery the season 
before they are required for the plantation; by this means 
H 
