FLORA 



AND 5YLVA. 



Vol. II. No. 13.] 



APRIL, 1 904. 



[Monthly. 



WASTE IN PLANTING. 

 Everything which tends to simplify the 

 work of planting is a gain in all ways, 

 and much of the work given to it is need- 

 less and wasteful — particularly trench- 

 ing and draining— two costly labours. 

 I live in a cool country with a wet soil 

 and never drain for any kind of plant- 

 ing in woods, adapting the plants to the 

 soil, the true way. There are trees, Ame- 

 rican and European, that will almost 

 stand in water and be none the worse 

 for it. Another costly labour is trench- 

 ing, and, I think, needless. I have young 

 woods of Pine planted in arable fields, 

 and not of specially good soil, which 

 people say they have never seen surpassed 

 in vigour and beauty for their age, and 

 the ground for them was never either 

 trenched or dug. The poor hill lands 

 that are now recognised as worth plant- 

 ing seldom need draining, as they are 

 often uplands and naturally well drained. 

 One of the pleas for planting such is 

 that the planting arrests denudation and 

 conserves the moisture and fertility of 

 the soil. And even where soil is too wet 

 much can be done to drain it by a good 

 choice of kinds. The Poplar, Willow, 

 and Spruce, if planted thickly enough, 

 will prove very good and cheap drainers. 



There are cases, owing to a deadly uni- 

 formity of surface, where some draining 

 may be needed, but for forest work gene- 

 rally it is needless- — beyond what is 

 needed to keep the rides dry. Even in 

 heavy soils I avoid draining. Light sandy 

 soils, and hill soils generally, seldom or 

 never need draining, except when they 

 lie upon a hard pan, such as is here and 

 there found in peaty districts, and where 

 the water stands, however light the rain- 

 fall may be. Where the surface soil in 

 such cases is not very deep, and an out- 

 fall can be found — not an easy matter 

 on level tracts — the surface water can 

 be led off by open drains, but when the 

 peat is deep the water will not subside 

 below the drain levels. Some of the best 

 German foresters hold that in many soils 

 the best system is that of trees of different 

 ages, different kinds, and different times 

 of cutting, grouping the trees according 

 to soil and situation, and this way helps 

 one to avoid the heavy costs of draining 

 and trenching. It is a better way than 

 the dead level mixture we so often see, 

 and which has to adapt itself to all con- 

 ditions. This grouping and massing way 

 also leads to beauty, as by its means we 

 keep and accentuate any varied incidents 

 of the surface. Putting the Willows and 



