CULTIVATION. 



7 



the following season to this is added a small proportion of lime or 

 chalk to assist natural decomposition and the purifying of the compost ; 

 and these annual heaps are turned over every winter for five or six 

 years; then they are ready for use. By such means v/e obtain natural 

 humis, (vegetable mould,) the only safe or useful manure for the firs 

 and pines ; for all other manures, whether farmyard, as generally used 

 and half rotten, or artificials, however useful and necessary they may 

 be in high farming or good gardening, are in true forestry nullities ; 

 nay, worse ; for in the large majority of cases, and particularly in the 

 case of the firs and pines, such compounds are at best but injurious 

 stimulants, and not unfrequently deadly poison. Our arboretum, and 

 in short most of our woods and plantations, are very similar to our 

 nursery grounds in the components or composition of their soils ; and 

 all of them are not only variable, but likewise the changes and transi- 

 tions from one description to another are very remarkable, even upon 

 comparatively small areas, and our surfaces are more undulatino- than 

 flat. 



As I have abeady indicated, we use no artificial protection : the 

 consequence is that many, alas ! too many, of the most beautiful 

 forms of the firs and pines have had their births and deaths in our 

 nursery-grounds, and all that now remains to remind us of their 

 existence amongst us is the records and memoranda to be found in our 

 register of deaths ; which is often thus summarized : — Too tender, 

 delicate, and fastidious for the climate of Britain and this, be it 

 remembered, is never registered until two or more trials of the 

 hardiness of any tender species has been made ; so that our nursery- 

 ground is the place where we try their hardiness, and should they 

 survive a half-dozen winters' trial, and what might be termed roughing 

 it in the nurseries, by being well-exposed, and allowing them plenty of 

 space from plant to plant ; whether in the seed-beds, drills, rows, 

 borders, or squares ; and by frequent removal and transplanting ; (but 

 never, even in the seedling state, with those implements called dibbles) ; 

 by this treatment we not only prove their hardiness, but likewise 

 properly and thoroughly prepare them for removal to their permanent 

 quarters, in arboretum or plantation ; for, from a somewhat extensive 

 practice in the cultivation of the firs and pines, experience has taught 

 me that to be successful in their introduction we must not only have 

 our essential, — healthy seed, but likewise healthy seedlings, healthy 

 plants, healthy food, and healthy soil, and likewise healthy preparation 

 for removal to permanent quarters ; the goal of wliich will be arrived at 



