PLANTING or FOREST TREES. 



113 



and is not to be superseded by any other operation, 

 although on trenched ground the drains may be placed 

 at greater distances from each other. In large planta- 

 tions the drains are always open^ and may be laid down 

 at intervals of sixteen to forty-eight feet_, according to 

 the porosity of the ground. In many places of the park 

 open drains are inadmissible; and in these cases we 

 prefer box-drains, formed with stones^ as much less 

 liable to be choked up with roots of trees than tile pipes 

 or tiles and soles certainly are. 



Roads through Plantations. — Roads, or rides as they 

 are frequently called, are needful in large plantations. 

 Though used for carts and carriages, they are in most 

 cases only grass walks, fifteen, twenty, or thirty feet 

 wide, with open ditches on each side. Where the ground 

 is soft, it may be necessary to lay a portion of the centre 

 with road-metal or gravel, and in hollows it is useful to 

 lay a box- drain across the line of road, and communi- 

 cating with one of the main drains. The open drains 

 on the sides should not be deep, and should never be 

 main drains. In extensive woods we would form some 

 of the leading rides at double the width of those men- 

 tioned above : it is in such open spaces that we generally 

 have the appearance of ornamental scenery. Or we 

 would occasionally expand them into broad lawns and 

 glades, and also form bays and recesses along their 

 borders. These open spaces, besides being highly pic- 

 turesque, afford good feeding-grounds for game. 



Planting of Forest Trees. — The differences of opi- 

 nion which exist as to the best method of planting, 

 the distances between the trees, and the most suitable 

 season for the work, afford sufficient proof that there is 



