ON PLANTING. 235 
alternating rows of willows set four feet apart, after the 
second year’s growth the ground will be found so shaded 
as to require no other culture, and it becomes necessary 
to cut off the interfering branches from the willows. 
Meanwhile the oaks will have made satisfactory prog- 
ress and have reached a greater height than those of 
blocks planted with the same stock set at four feet apart 
and continuously cultivated so as to keep the ground 
loose and clean. 
“ Unless care be taken to subordinate these nurses they 
will be likely to overwhelm the more valuable plants, 
and they are not, therefore, recommended for all pur- 
poses, as their growth is so vigorous that their excessive 
thrift supplants the more valuable tree. As soon as the 
permanent tree has reached sufficient size to shade the 
ground, little trouble need be experienced by the sprout- 
ing of the willow-stumps, as they will in their turn fur- 
nish material cuttings for other plantations. 
“Evergreens which have been used as nurses to other 
evergreens are to be treated in the same way. 
“When the thickly set trees have reached a height of 
from eight to twelve feet and make a dense thicket, so as 
to endanger the sturdiness of the plants, instead of chop- 
ping them at the ground the stems are lopped off at the 
height of four, five, or six feet, leaving all below to shade 
the ground and for the important work of aiding in the 
destruction of the sidelimbs of the other trees, which 
thus soon lose their lower branches by the processes of 
nature, and not only is this more cheaply, but it is also 
much better done than by the laborious process of trim- 
ming. The lopped trees do not recover their upright 
habit of growth, but are soon overpowered by those 
which are left, that now grow with renewed vigor, and, 
while the beheaded trees continue to drag out a misera. 
ble existence, they are still doing a good work in aiding in 
the perfection of the shafts of their more favored fellows. 
“The white ash, hard maples, oaks, elms, hickories, 
