PLANTING AND REGENERATION 113 



same way, but are less troublesome on account of their more 

 open growth. Heather gives little trouble, and can easily 

 be burnt ; and this should be done a couple of years before 

 planting, so that the caked condition of the surface which 

 follows burning may have disappeared. Bracken should also 

 be taken in hand at least two years before planting, and its 

 growth weakened by repeated cutting. 



In the case of old pasture or ground with a grassy 

 surface, it is often advisable to break it up before planting. 

 Turf acts lilce a blanket on the surface of the soil, keeping 

 out both air and moistvire, and appropriating all plant food 

 in the upper six inches. Wherever possible, the best plan 

 is to break it up, a year or two previous to planting, by 

 either deep ploughing or cultivating. A crop of roots, rye, 

 or com can be sown on the ground afterwards, and the plants 

 slitted in the following autumn or spring, if the soil is 

 adapted for this method. A thin scanty turf on sloping 

 ground, however, is an advantage on light soils, as it prevents 

 washing or denudation of the surface, and in such cases it 

 is better to allow it to remain undisturbed. 



Fencing. 



It is not necessary to deal with the fencing of ground 

 against cattle or sheep, as this branch of work has no 

 particular application to forestry. But fencing against 

 ground game is an almost invariable preliminary to planting 

 or replanting ground of any kind. Experience proves over 

 and over again that the neglect of this precaution almost 

 always ends in the young crop being destroyed during the 

 iirst five years. Protection in the shape of wire netting, 

 therefore, is usually imperative, unless the labour and 

 expense of planting are to be thrown away. 



Common as the custom of erecting wire netting is, it 

 is rather the exception than the rule to find it erected 

 properly. Either the mesh used is too large, the netting 

 is not let deep enough into the ground, or the width is 

 too small to effect the desired result. If too large a mesh 

 is used, young rabbits crawl through it ; if not set properly 

 8 



