138 



PLANTING OF WASTE LAND. 



ing which ignorant or careless workmen sometimes 

 adopt, of pruning the roots till they get them to fit 

 a too narrow hole, should be strictly prohibited. 

 Nothing is more apt to kill a plant than the prun- 

 ing of its roots too closely. When a pit is found 

 too small to contain them, it should be enlarged to 

 the necessary size, but on no pretence whatever 

 ought they to be reduced in order to suit its dimen- 

 sions. 



The pitting system should be adopted in every 

 instance in which the plants exceed two years old ; 

 and no other method should, of course, be ever re- 

 sorted to when we have to do with the ash, elm, 

 planetree, and beech. 



The expense of planting was much reduced by 

 the introduction, about a century ago, of the notch* 

 ing system. Of this there are now two varieties, 

 the oldest of which may be described as follows : 



One person makes a notch in the ground, or ra- 

 ther two notches crossing each other, with a com- 

 mon spade, raising the sod by bending down the 

 handle of the instrument, till the notch become wide 

 enough to receive the roots of the plant. An assist- 

 ant, who attends with a bundle of young trees, 

 singles out one of them, and slips its root into the 

 aperture thus made for its reception. The spade is 



