February 27 . 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
415 
a Master, your Heavenly as well as earthly one, to give 
an account to. Remember, also, that you have been in 
a similar position yourself. Be firm, and make them do 
their duty, and be kind and civil to them. In truth, 
bring that golden divine rule into practice, both to 
master and man, namely—“ Do unto all men as you 
would they should do unto you.” T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
WOODS AND FORESTS. 
THE LARCH. 
(Continued from page 370.) 
Soil and Situation. —At the above page I left the 
young Larches two years transplanted in the nursery 
rows. They are then quite large enough to plant where 
they are to stand (when properly thinned, of which I 
shall write hereafter,) to form timber-trees. Like most 
other trees they grow quickly where the soil is moderately 
deep and dry; but as this tree will grow and make 
tolerable timber where few others would live, namely, 
in high exposed situations, in scenery that may be 
described as barren and rocky; in such places there is 
very little soil to be found, and it is in such places that 
this hardy tree ought to be planted most largely; their 
spiry tops shooting, as it were, into the sky, give a 
picturesque appearance to such, without them, dreary, 
wild scenery. Planting them in such places is no easy 
task, and many will perish during the first season, 
unless great care is bestowed in planting. Our weather 
prophet, Mr. Beaton, advised that all planting should 
bo finished this season before the fifteenth of January 
because then lie prophesied (aye, and truly too) that 
after that day all planting would be stopped by the 
severity of the frost. I may venture to prophecy, or 
rather direct, that in every coming season every Larch 
should be planted before the 15th of December, in order 
that success may attend the planter’s work. In such 
rocky, alpine situations we may reasonably expect the 
frosts of winter to commence severer and earlier than in 
the warm valleys, and by planting in the early autumn, 
the trees will immediately put forth new roots, and by 
them be enabled to keep hold of the scanty soil, and 
thrive well the following season. In planting, the hole 
should be dug in the latter mouths of the summer, the 
stones picked out, and the soil, or rather the debris of 
the rocks, for such it generally is, laid on one side. 
Then, as soon as the leaves are fallen, take up as many 
trees as will serve the planters for one day, take them to 
the locality early in the morning, and go at the planting 
with a hearty will, and get them all planted before the 
shades of night set in. Though done quickly, this 
operation must be well done. Every tree must have its 
roots spread out every way ; the soil, the best the place 
will afford, laid upon the roots, and then be well and 
firmly trodden down. There is no fear of its being too 
heavy upon the roots, such soil, in such a locality, is 
sure to be light enough the spring following. In such 
situations it is desirable to plant thickly; partly because 
there will bo some deaths, with the greatest care; and 
partly because the plants will afford shelter to each 
other as they grow. Follow on this planting every 
workable day till all are planted, finishing as early as 
possible. 
There are many situations where the Larch will prove 
the best of all trees to plant with, that are not such as I 
have described above, I mean our sandy, poor, heath 
moors; such as 1 noticed in crossiug what was once 
Delamcre Forest, near where our friend Mr. Errington 
enacts his gardening triumphs. In such soils the Larch 
thrives well, and makes a profitable, investment, and that 
quickly too. Now, in planting in such a situation, there 
might be scattered amongst the Larches a few bard- 
wooded trees. In the deepest and best soils a few Oaks 
might be intermingled, and also, in thinner parts, some 
of the narrow-leaved Elms, and in still poorer soils afew 
Beeches. The fall of the leaves of the Larch would 
enrich and increase the soil, and in some years after, 
these barren, sandy wastes might be clothed with a noble 
forest; the Larch, in the meantime, growing and coming 
oft’ as a crop to pay the expenses incurred, and as rent 
for the land. Many of these wastes have been very in¬ 
judiciously planted with hard-wooded trees alone, merely 
because there was some of this sandy heath-mould, the 
deposit of the leaves of the heath, the furze, and the 
weeds. They produce what! a miserable, stunted, 
starved plantation, that will scarcely ever make a tree 
fit for a post, much less a stem fit for use for timber 
purposes. Plant with Larch, and there will be a 
prospect of the wild waste producing a valuable timber 
at no distant period. The planting of a thin sprinkling 
of the hard-wooded trees amongst the Larch, I look upon 
merely as an experiment, though the shelter the Larch 
will afford them will certainly be a great help to then- 
growing up straight, and might, in all probablity, en¬ 
courage them in time to make something like a growth 
into respectable timber; still, I should look to the Larch 
to repay the owner. 
Having got all the planting finished by the time speci¬ 
fied, should any severe gales take place, let a few men go 
over the newly-planted wood, and see if any of the trees 
are blown down on one side, lift them up carefully, stir 
the surface-soil, and tread it down again firmly, then 
leave them to bear tho breezes and frost of winter, till 
the warm spring-weather has thawed, dried, and warmed 
the ground, then go over them again, lift up those that 
may be down, and tread them all, whether down or not, 
over again. They will require no further care, unless 
rampant weeds should spring during the summer. If 
such appear, go over the plantation, and chop them down 
with a strong, heavy hoe. 
The following autumn, the vacancies, if any, by deaths 
or accidents, should be filled up, and after that has been 
done once, no further care will be necessary for two or 
three years, when a pruning will be necessary, of which I 
must write, together with some direction on thinning, 
at a future opportunity. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
PLANTING AND CULTIVATION OF THE HOP. 
A Correspondent having inquired how Hops are 
cultivated in Kent, and as their planting and general 
management form a very important feature in Kentish 
husbandry, and it being mostly all done by manual 
labour, it may, with some degree of propriety, be termed 
gardening, rather than farming; in fact, a plantation of 
Hops is called “ a Hop Garden,” be it ever so extensive; 
and as the cultivation of this singular plant involves 
many points common to other plants, I will endeavour, 
in this chapter, to oxplain some features in the soil and 
its preparation for planting, which, in some instances, 
might be copied with advantage for other crops. 
Beginning first with Soils. Many persons, unac¬ 
quainted with the character of the Hop, will bo sur¬ 
prised to hear of its being cultivated on soils differing 
widely from each other in character; yet, it must not be 
inferred from that that all aro alike suitable; but 
the anxiety of cultivators to have a few Hops induces 
many to plant them where they can hardly be bene¬ 
ficially grown ; yet this is not done to any great extent; 
for those who grow for profit are generally too shrewd 
to attempt tho growth of an expensively - produced 
orticlo on soil too much at variance with its wants, to 
continue doing so, at any great sacrifice ; but as the Hop 
