384 
Gorse. 
off a thin paring, and to burn it. The land afterwards, in order 
to preserve the plants from the bad effects of water, should be 
put into ridges, similar to those prepared for the reception of 
turnip-seed. 
The sort of gorse cultivated for provender is known by the name 
of French gorse (TEithin Ffrengig). The best time to sow the 
seed is in March or April. If sown broadcast, about 5 or 6 lbs., 
or if drilled, 2 or 3 lbs. per acre will be the quantity of seed re- 
quired. When the plant is to be in rows, and where the ground 
is very steep, as on the sides of hills, road-cuttings, the sides of 
♦mbankments, &c., the direction of the rows should be oblique, 
and not directly up and down. The distance between the rows 
should be from 1.5 to 18 inches. 
Where the plant is to be raised on level ground, 18 or 24 inches 
should, at the least, be allowed between the rows, so as to afford 
to the plants the full benefit of the sun and the air. Light, and 
the warmth of the sun's rays, and the free circulation of air, are 
all indispensably requisite to promote luxuriant vegetation. 
The seedling plants of gorse are far more delicate and suscep- 
tible of injury than they are generally considered to be. It is, 
therefore, of the utmost importance that they should not be smo- 
thered with couch-grass and other weeds, and that they should be 
carefully protected from sheep and cattle. Inattention to these 
points will generally render the cultivation of gorse a failure. 
To reclaim old gorse covers, such as are to be met with in 
Cheshire and in Shropshire, and in most fox-hunting counties, and 
to make them a source of profit to the farmer, the plan is, during 
the winter, or early in spring, to cut the woody plant as close to 
the ground as possible ; afterwards, with mattocks, to stir up the 
soil in the spaces between the stumps, and to divide the roots of the 
plant freely. After this has been done, an abundance of young 
shoots will be thrown out, which will afford a rich supply of pro- 
vender, to be available either at one year's growth or two, as the 
demand for it may require. 
Seedling gorse should not be cut for use until it is two years 
old ; but after the first cutting, it may be cut every year, should 
there be need of it. It will, however, generally be found to pro- 
duce a heavier crop and yield a more profitable return, in some 
localities, by allowing two years instead of one to intervene be- 
tween each cutting {Appendix 10). 
When the plant is raised in rows, it will always be found ad- 
vantageous, alter the first cutting, to take for use, every year, alter- 
nate rows. By adopting this method, there will be secured a con- 
stant succession of two-year old gorse. This plan w ill also secure 
to the lower branches of the ])lant a free exposure to the influences 
of light and air, and so prevent a great portion from becoming 
