188 
WASTE-LAND PLANTING. 
tion of the pine as a profitless tree ; but in order 
to show how groundless this idea is, I shall in- 
troduce a statement drawn up by Mr. G rigor, 
of Invergordon, who lives in the neighbour- 
hood of the plantations he describes. This 
extract I make from a report for which the 
Highland Society of Scotland have just 
awarded their gold medal, " The plantations 
of Lammingtou Park," says the writer, " cover 
J, 050 acres, and that of Lairg 150 acres im- 
perial. They were formed about the year 
1774 or 1775, and are consequently about 70 
years old. The ground on which they stand 
forms the first and lowest of those hills which 
extend at from 180 to 410 feet above the 
level of the sea. Planting was effected with 
a sort of foot pick, by making a hole in the 
ground, which was widened into a slit by the 
planter pushing the handle of the pick to and 
from him ; and the plants were seldom put 
into the ground under three years of age. It 
is evident that this mode is much more tedious 
and expensive, and less complete, than the 
use of the hand-iron of the present day, &c. 
.... The following seems a fair estimate 
of the value of the trees taken from Lam- 
mington Park when the plantation was of 
•age :— 
Trees from 40 to 50 years of 
age, CO trees per acre, at 
Is. 6d. each £4 10 
Trees from 50 to 60 years, 80 
trees per acre, at 2s. 6d. each 10 
Trees from 60 to 70 years, 120 
trees per acre, at 5s. each . . 30 
Making per acre . . £44 10 
Which, at 500 acres of the hest of the 
wood, gives £22,250 
Of the inferior parts the value of the pro- 
duce stands thus : — 
Trees from 40 to 50 years of 
age, 20 trees per acre, at 9d. £0 15 
Trees from 50 to 60 years, 35 
trees per acre, at Is. 6d. . . 2 12 6 
Trees from 60 to 70 years, 50 
trees per acre, at 3s 7 10 
Making per acre . .£40 17 6 
Which, over 400 acres, gives 4,350 
Making a total of £26,600 
" The whole remaining wood, extending 
over the 1,200 acres, having lately been ex- 
posed to public sale, has realized the sum of 
13,630/. ; the total result standing thus : — 
Lammingtou Park, in thinnings. £26,600 
Lairg Wood, ditto . . 3,396 5 
Value of old timber, as above . . 13,630 
£43,626 5 0" 
A noble result, surely, from land which 
altogether would not have fetched above 10/. 
yearly rent. 
Perhaps in no department of planting has 
such decided improvement been made* as in 
the art of inserting the young trees ; and 
nothing has contributed so much to simplify 
the process and lessen the expense of the work, 
as the adoption of the planting iron. It has 
reduced the art to mere child's work, so that 
what was formerly considered as an exploit 
seldom executed, is now a matter of mere 
routine, undertaken in many parts of the 
country as regularly as the season advances. 
The outlay, which is the most important of 
all considerations, is now, comparatively speak- 
ing, a mere fraction. Thousands of acres are 
planted in Scotland, at an average price of 
twenty-five to thirty shillings per acre ; and 
in this is included the price of plants, inclosing 
the ground, road-making, draining and grub- 
bing, in short, everything necessary to form 
a complete plantation. The chief cause of this 
extraordinary reduction in price, is to be 
traced to the use of the instrument alluded to; 
and as there is no reason why it should not 
be adopted throughout England, it may be as 
well to describe minutely the way in which it 
is worked. From this it is not to be supposed 
that planting in England can be accomplished 
at an equally low rate as in Scotland; the 
price of labour, rates and taxes, rent of land, 
and other burdens in the latter country, bear- 
ing no proportion to that of the former ; yet 
by the process recommended, there is no doubt 
that, in this instance, a much closer approxi- 
mation may be made to the low scale of our 
northern neighbours. The planting-iron is 
not unlike a common garden spade in minia- 
ture, being so small that it can be easily used 
with one hand, the same as a garden dibble is 
used in planting cabbages; and in this consists 
its superiority over every other tool. Its 
length altogether is about fourteen inches: the 
plate, or lower part of the instrument, made 
chiefly of steel, is five inches broad at top, 
and tapers away on either side so as to termi- 
nate in a sharp point : to this plate is welded 
an iron shaft, surmounted with a wooden 
handle, similar to that of a dung-fork, though 
of course much smaller. The annexed figure 
will perhaps give a better idea of this spade. 
The workman having furnished himself with 
a small bag or wallet, in which the plants are 
laid, and having fastened it round his waist, 
commences with the planting-iron in his right 
hand, and with it makes a notch in the ground, 
whilst with the left hand he singles out a 
plant, inserts it iu the notch, and having fixed 
