144 PLANTING OF WASTE LAND. 



been remarked, is liable to the same inconvenience, 

 if the surface be destitute of cover. When, there- 

 fore, we have to do with land possessing either of 

 these characteristics, it is best to defer planting till 

 the month of February, a season at which the 

 strength of the frost may be presumed to be over ; 

 and, before next winter, the young trees will have 

 fixed their roots so firmly as to be out of danger. 

 It is, however, proper to state, that these remarks 

 have reference to the method of planting last de- 

 scribed in the preceding section, and to it only. 

 When the pitting system is adopted, it fixes the 

 plants so thoroughly, as to render the utmost power 

 of frost incapable of doing them any injury. 



Autumnal planting must not commence till the 

 wood of the plant be fully ripened; and spring 

 planting must not be carried on after the buds be- 

 gin to swell. The utmost limits of the planting 

 season may, therefore, be estimated from the middle 

 of October to the middle of March. In backward 

 autumns, it will not be advisable to begin operations 

 earlier than the first of November, nor to continue 

 them, in forward springs, later than the end of Feb- 

 ruary. 



With regard to the distance from one another at 

 which trees should be planted, there are various opi- 

 nions. In most places of Scotland, it is customary 



3 



