259 
if  allowed  to  get  headway  would  soon  wash  away  and  destroy  any 
imperfect  work. 
Planting. 
To  cover  the  soil  as  quickly  as  possible  with  a dense  and  per- 
manent arborescent  cover  is  the  object  to  be  attained.  Where  the 
soil  has  not  been  so  far  eroded  that  ploughing  could  be  done,  it 
might  be  best  for  the  first  reason  to  sow  field  peas,  or  other  crops 
that  will  readily  grow  and  make  a cover.  This  may  be  cut  for 
green  fodder,  leaving  a high  stubble,  and  tree  seed  can  be  sown 
broadcast  with  the  fodder  crop  in  the  early  summer,  or  over  the 
stubble  after  the  crop  is  cut  in  the  late  summer  and  fall.  The 
cheapest  and  most  readily  germinating  tree  seed  should  be  looked 
for  and  the  quantity  used  per  acre  should  be  lavish  to  secure  a 
dense  stand  from  the  first 
Where  the  ground  is  too  much  cut  up  and  too  uneven  to  permit 
of  ploughing,'  recourse  must  be  had  to  sowing  of  seed  in  plats,  or 
planting  of  seedlings  or  cuttings  by  hand.  This  is  naturally  much 
more  expensive  and  therefore  should  be  done  with  great  care  and 
foresight.  Plats  may  be  made  by  loosening  the  soil  with  a hoe  or 
spade,  and  sowing  the  seed  into  these  seed  beds  covering  the  seed 
only  slightly.  The  plats  should  be  3 or  4 feet  apart  to  make  suf- 
ficiently rapid  cover.  The  success  of  this  method  is,  however,  very 
questionable,  as  not  only  the  germinating  of  the  seed  under  the 
prevailing  conditions  is  precarious,  but  rains  are  apt  to  wash  out 
the  seed  or  young  seeJlings.  The  surer  method,  however,  will  be 
found  in  planting  seedlings  or  cuttings.  Seedlings  are  not  only 
expensive  but  also  more  precarious  to  handle,  hence  for  the  bulk 
of  the  plantation  such  kinds  as  can  be  readily  obtained  and  pro- 
pagated by  cuttings  are  used,  and  if  desired  a sufficient  number  of 
seedlings  of  better  kinds  can  be  added  to  increase  the  timber  value 
of  the  plantation. 
The  first  and  principal  object  being  to  break  the  force  of  the  sur- 
face waters,  the  arrangement  in  setting  out  the  plants  should  be  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  horizontal  and  parallel  rows  along  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  following  the  contours.  To  get  a full  cover  as  soon  as 
possible  the  plants  should  be  set  not  farther  apart  than  3 to  4 feet 
and  even  less,  making  from  5,000  to  7,000  per  acre.  If  this  is 
found  too  expensive,  or  for  some  reason  impracticable  to  be  done 
at  once,  the  work  may  be  reduced  and  divided  into  several  seasons  ; 
the  rows  then  may  be  made  farther  apart,  say  from  6 to  16  feet, 
according  to  the  slope,  and  the  plants  in.  the  row  2 feet,  when  the 
number  will  be  one-half,  or  less. 
Whatever  is  done  in  such  a work  of  recovering  lost  ground,  let 
this  fact  never  be  forgotten,  that  it  is  better  to  do  a small  part  well 
than  a large  part  indifferently  which  usually  means  lost  labour. 
Grasses  and  similar  vegetation  prevent  erosion 
AND  washing  of  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS. 
On  gentle  slopes  a good  turf  of  perennial  pasture  grasses,  es- 
pecially those  with  creeping  rootstocks,  prevents  erosion,  or  washing, 
