i l
proportion of three nurses to ono principal, and employs chiclly the resinous tribe, and looks to them
for reimbursement till the hard timber has attained to I ft. in diameter, under wliich size hard timber is
seldom of much value. His principals are planted at from 6 ft. to 10 ft. apart, according to the soil and
situation. (Plant. Kal., p. 1G6.)
5790. In procuring shelter, much depends on the mode of commencing and conlinuing plantations on
bleak sites. Sang, who has had extensive experience on this subject, observes, that “ every plain, .and
most fields and situations for planting, in this country, have what may be called a windward side, which
is more exposed to the destructive blast than any other. It is of very great importance to be apprised
of this circumstance; and to be able to fix upon the most exposed sideof the proposed forest plantation.
Fix, then, upon the windward side of the plain which is to be converted into a forest; mark off a horizontal
stripe, or belt, a t least 100 yards in breadth. L e t this portion of ground be planted thick, say at
tb e distance of 30in., or a t the most 3ft., with a mixture of larch, sycamore, and elder, in equal quantities,
or nearly so, if the soil be adapted for rearing these; but if it be better adapted for Scotch pines,
then let it be planted with them a t tlie distances prescribed for the above mixture. We havo no other
kinds that will thrive better, or rise more quickly in bleak situations, than those ju s t mentioned. When
th e trees in this belt, or zone, have risen to the height of 2 ft., such hard-wooded trees as are intended
ultimately to fill the ground should be introduced, a t th e distance of 8ft. or lOft. from each other, as
circumstances may admit. At this period, or perhaps a year or two afterwards, according to the bleak
o r exposed situation of the grounds, let another narallel belt, or zone, of nearly equal breadth, be added
to the one already so far grown up, and so on, till the whole grounds be covered. It is not easy here to
determine on th e exact breadth of the subsequent belts or zones : this matter must be regulated by the
degree of exposure of the grounds, by the shelter afforded by the zone previously planted, and by such
like circumstances.” (Plant. Kal., p. 29.)
5791. I n situations exposed to tke sea breeze 3. similar plan may be successfully followed, and aided in
effect by beginning with a wa ll: the flrst belt having reached the height of the wall, plant a second, a
third, and a fourth, and so on till you cover the whole trac t to be wooded. In this way the plantations on
the east coast of Mid-Lothian, round Gosford House, were reared ; and in Bang’s manner, th e mountains
o f Blair and Dunkeld were clothed ; and examples, we are informed, might be drawn even from the
Orkney and Shetland Islands. In France the pinaster is very generally employed on tho sea-shore, either
as a nurse for other trees, or as the principal or sole tree planted. Mr. Ilutger recommends the same
tree to be employed in the most exposed p arts of the British coast. After ploughing or digging tho
ground, he would plant the pinasters in rows 5 ft. apart., and in three years after insert the timber trees
between them. If these timber trees were planted at the same time as th e pinasters, they would soon
become stunted and good for nothing.
•5792. Tke species o f tree to he pXanied must ever depend chiefly on th e situation and soil, but partly
also on the sort of product desired as the most profitable, and on th e importance attached to shelter.
As a general principle it may be observed, that the tree which will thrive th e best, will tu rn out the
most profitable; for, though its timber may not be of the highest-priced kind, yet there will be quantity
as compensation for inferior quality. In rocky irregular surfaces there is generally great variety of situation
and depth of so il; and here a corresponding variety of trees may be introduced, and the more
valuable sorts, as the oak, ash, elm, poplar, &c., will nowhere thrive better than a t the foot of precipices,
and in narrow dells and other sinuosities, where there is a t once shelter and a good depth of dry soil.
The thriving of trees and plants of every kind, indeed, depends much more on the quantity of available
soil, and its state in respect to water and climate, than on its constituent principles; moderately sheltered,
and on a dry subsoil, it signifies little whether the surface stratum be a clayey, sandy, or calcareous
loam; all the principal trees will thrive nearly equally well in either so circumstanced; but no tree
whatever in these, or in any other soil saturated with water, and in a bleak exposed site. For hedgerow
timber, those kinds which grow with lofty stems, which draw their nourishment from the subsoil, and
do least injury by their shade, are to be preferred. These, according to Blakie, are oaks, narrow-leaved
elm, and black Italian p o p la r; beech, ash, and firs, he says, are ruinous to fences, and othenvise injurious
to farmers. (On Hedges and Hedgerow Timber, p. 10.)
5793. The common practice in planting is to mixdijferent species a f trees together, which is unavoidable
where nurse or shelter plants are introduced : where these are not wanted, the opinions of planters are
divided on the subject. Mixing different sorts is most generally approved of. Marshall advises mixing
th e ash with the oak, because th e latter draws its nourishment chiefly from the subsoil, and the former
from the surface. Nico lisan advocatefor indiscriminatemixture (Pracricnf P/anfe?-, p. 77.); and Pontey
says, “ both reason and experience will fully warrant the conclusion, th at the greatest possible quantity
of timber is to be obtained by planting mixtures.” (P r o f Planter, p. 119.)
•5794. Sang is “ clearly of opinion, that the best m ethod is to plant each sort in distinct masses or groups,
provided the situation and quality of the soil be properly kept in view. There has hitherto been too much
random work carried on with respect to th e mixture of different kinds. A longer practice, and more experience,
will discover better methods in any science. T h a t of planting is now widely extended; and
improvements in all its branches have been introduced. We, therefore, having a better knowledge of
soils, perhaps, than our forefathers had, can, with greater certainty, assign to each tree its proper station.
We can, perhaps, a t sight, decide, that here the oak will grow to perfection, there the ash, andhere again
the bee ch; and the same with respect to th e others. If. however, there happen to be a piece of land of
such a quality, th a t it may be said to be equally adapted for th e oak, the walnut, or the sweet chestnut, it
will be proper to place such in it, in a mixed way, as the principals; because each sort will extract its own
proper nourishment, and will have an enlarged range of pasturage for its roots, and consequently may
make better timber trees. Although byindiscnminatelymixingdifferentkinds of hard-wooded plants in a
plantation, there is hardly a doubt th at the ground will be fully cropped with one k in d e r other, yet it very
often happens, in cases where th e soil is evidently well adapted to th e most valuable sorts, as the oak perhaps,
that there is hardly one oak in the ground fo r a hundred that ought to have been planted. We have
known this imperfection in several instances severely felt. It not unfrequently happens, too, th at even
what oaks, or other hard-wooded trees, are to be met with, are overtopped by less valuable kinds, or perhaps
such, all things considered, as hardly deserve a place. Such evils may be prevented by planting with
attention to the soil, ancl in distmct masses. In these masses are insured a full crop, by being properly
nursed, for a time, with kinds more hardy, or which afford more shelter than such hard-wooded plants.
There is no rule by which to fix the size or extent of any of these masses. Indeed, themore various they
be made in size, the better will they, when grown up, please the eye of a person of taste. They may be
extended from one acre to fifty or a hundred acres, according to the circumstances of soil and situation :
their shapes will accordingly be as various as their dimensions. In th e same m anner ought all the resinous
kinds to be planted, which are intended for timber trees ; nor should these be intermixed with anyother
sort, but be in distinct masses by themselves. The massing of th e larch, the pine, and (he fir of all sorts,
is th e least laborious and surest means of producing good, straight, and clean timber. It is by planting,
or ra the r by sowing them in masses, hy placing them thick, by a timely pruning and gradual thinning,
that we can, with certainty, attain to this object.” (Plant. Kal., p. 162. 166.)
5795. Our opinion is in j^erfect consonance with that of Sang, and for the same reasons; and we may add,
as an additional one, th a t in the most vigorous natural forests one species of tree will generally be found
occupying almost exclusively one soil and situation, while in forests less vigorous, on inferior und on
watery soils, mixtures of sorts are more prevalent. This may be observed in comparing the New Forest
with the natural woods round Lochlomond, and it is very strikingly exemplified in the great forests of
Poland and Russia.
1135
5796. Whether M c n sm plititlations shmM be sown or planted, is a qunstion aliout which planters are
at variance. Milier says triinsp anted oaks will never arrive at the size of thoso raised where they are to
remam from the acorn. (Dtct. llnercns.) Marshall prefers sowing when the ground can be cultivated
With the plougln (Fiant, and llu r . Orn„ vol. i. p. 123.) Evelyn, Emmerich, and Speechly are of the
same opimon ; Pontey and Nicol practise planting, hut offer no arguments against sowing where clrcum-
stances are suitable. Sang p y s , it is an opinion very generally entertained, that planted timber can
never, m any case, be equal m duraffihty and value to that which is sown. We certainly feel ourselves
inclmed to support this opinion, although we readily admit that the matter has not beeh so fully established,
from experiment, as to amount to positive proof. But although we have not met with decided
evidence, to enable us to determine on the comparative excellence of timber raised from seeds without
being replanted, over such as have been rai«ed from replanted trees, we are left in no doubt as to the nre-
ferencC’ m respect of growth of those trees which are sown, over such as are planted.” (Plant. K a l
P- aL . ft*" raising extensive tracts of the Scotch pine and the larch
(p. 430.) and is decidedly of opinion, “ that every kind of forest tree will succeed better by being reared
from seeds m the place where it is to grow to maturity, than by being raised in any nursery whatever, and
from thence transplanted mto the forest.” (p. 344.) I)r. Y n \e (Caled. Hort. Mem., vol. ii.) in a long paper
on trees, sriongly recommends sowing where the trees are finally to remain. “ It is,” savs he “ a well-
ascertained fact, th at seedlings allowed to remain in their original station will, in a few seasons far overtop
the common nursed plants several years older.”
5797. The opinion of Dr. Yule, and in part also that o f Sang, seems to be founded on the idea that the
tap-root is of great importance to grown-up trees, and that, when this is once cutoff by transplanting, the
plant has not the power of renewing it. T h a t the tap-root is of the utmost consequence for the first three
or tour years is obvious from the economy of nature a t that age of the plant ; perhaps for a longer period :
but th at It can be of no great consequence to full-grown trees, appears highly probable from the fact, that
when such trees are cut down, the tap-root is seldom to be distinguished from the others. T h e onlnion
tliat young plants have not the power of renewing their tap-root, will, we believe, be found inconsistent
with lact ; and we may appeal to Sang and other nurserymen, who raise the oak and horsechestnut from
sectl. It IS customary, when these are sown in drills, to cut off their tap-roots without removing the plants
a t the end of the second year’s growth, and when at the end o fth e third or fourth year theya re taken up.
they will be found to have acquired others, not indeed so strong as the first would have been had thev remained,
but suflicicnt to establish the fact of the power of renewal. We may also refer to the experiment
recorded by Forsyth,which at once proves that trees have a power of renewing their tap-roots and the
great advantages from cutting down trees after two or three years’ planting. Forsyth “ transplanted a
bed ot oak plants, cutting the tap-roots near to some o fth e side roots or fibres springing from them. In
the second year after, he headed one half of the plants down, and left the other half to nature. In tho first
season, those headed down made shoots 6 ft. long and upwards, and completely covered the head of the
F “I'nt cicatrix, and produced new tap-roots upwards of 2A ft. long. The other
headed, were not one fourth the size of the others. One of the former is
f t ’? - ’" c«tyura fe renc e,at6in.from the ground: one of the largest of the latter
measures only .5^ ft. in height, a n d 3 | in .m circumference, at 6 in. fromthe ground.” (T r . on Fruit Trees
4to ediri p. 144 ) The pme and fir tribes receive most check by transplanting ; and when removed at the
age of four or five years, they seldom arrive at trees afterwards ; those we should, on m ost occasions, prefer
to sow, especially on mountainous tracts. But for all trees which stole, and in tolerable soils and situations,
planting strong plants, and cuttmg them down two or three years afterwards, will, we think, all
circumsta"ces considered, be proved preferable to sowing.
579H. On tke subject of disposing theplants in plantations, there are different opinions: some advising
rows, others quincunx, but tlie greater number planting irregularly. According to Marshall, “ the pre?
terence to be given to the row, or the random culture, rests m some m easure upon the nature and situation
T • f t T T **’ 2’ Against steep banks, where the plough cannot be conveniently used
T ré rf cul K®“ " ? ft® ’" ‘^’’spaces, during the infancy of the wood, either method may be adopted ;
and li plants are to be put in, the quincunx manner will be found preferable to any. But in more levei
^ cannot allow any liberty of choice: the drill or row manner is undoubtedly the most
h f î ” f ” r ° " f t y considers it of much less consequence than most people
T r e S h '' regularly or irregularly, as in either case th e whole of the soil will be
ft®, ’■“ ".ft ft"] surtace by the shoots. Sang and Nicol only plant in rows where culture
fe cT i horty-hoe is to be adopted. In sowing for woods and copses, the former places the patches 6 ft.
thTfei T T ® ffumcunx order. “ It hus been demonstrated (Farmer's Mag., vol. vii. p. 409.), that
^ fe ®V" '''“ ’ch It IS possible to place a number of points, upon a plain surface, not nearer than
ItI L I fol fe T cfech uther, is m the angles of hexagons with a plant in the centre of each hexagon.
iinT ffe fe a r ^ e d , that this order of trees is the most economical ; as the same quantity of ground will
fffen Tf ff ? Oflgfe of trees, by 16 per cent., when planted in this form, than in any other.” (Gen.
hrélc -’ fe ® T t ®! needless to observe, that hedge plants should be placed at regular dis-
S L l iT f t ’ f L t ®Lf^® when those are introduced fn hedges. Osief-plantationi, and all
afso be p l i n tS ®ftsft"ce, should
ftfttances between the rows, and in the row, ought, in our opinion, to
f i c f FF ifîiifofe J ÿ f l î 2® where the mam object is profit ; unless there be something in the soil, sur-
i n r i f f e c f t ffe T t impracticable. It fs only by planting in rows th a t a master can give
TonferfVfefe J workmen for managing a plantation systematically. By planting a certain
trees wMfeh i r f ®®!®’ ®‘’ ‘c"^Porary trees, alternating in any given manner in each row with those
trees which are to be permanent instructions can be laid down, when the plantation is formed, how it
lanaged during the whole period of its existence. (See Lawrence in Gardener's Mag., vol. x.
p. 26.)
58M. The distances at which ike plants a . . ^ ....... „««« „«.«.u.ui.v v.«,.
of DlantfeLm"feiffe?nH®ll' thick, according to Nicol, is th e safer side to err on, because a number
f LTffei.-fero the superfluous ones can be easily removed by thinning. “ For bleak situations ”
■eplaced m.\\%t depend on different circumstances, but chiefly fl/'/'/kro/for, ir fro XTlrorol iro «-V.ro «"ro.. «¡-1-. * _ . X
a good medium, varying thedistance accordmg F or iL s PvTncT «V.ro roroil 7ro -1____vQair—y ing in, eai,1s ta,n ce accomm^gttoo cciirrccuummssttaanncceess..”’'
4 ft t ? ^ ffe^ Fo? situations, and where the soil is above 6 in. in depth, he recommends a distance from
the di!t vfeA of fefe ®’A®fTP®; fta ^ P te r of about lOO ft.; the margin to be planted about
fn ? o fi “ ‘f® distances at which hard-timber trees ought to be planted are from 0 ft
nnfc? fenfef ft®. '" f t the exposed or sheltered situation. When the first four
Llib fife rn irlL angles, and 9 ft. apart, the interstices will fall to be filled up
T riiv hF fhfore fh standing a t 4 i ft. asunder. When sixteen oaks are planted, there will neces-
! 1 L f e d nurses plmited; and when thirty-six oaks are planted, eighty-five nu rse s; but when
f I fefo?H frPfe ®® ’“ ® ’" this manner, in a square of ten on the side, there will be two
riv T v ? ®’‘‘L®"® nurse plants required. The English acre would require five hundred and thirty.
T L fe ? , ’fefoT hundred and ten nurses.” (Plant. Kal., p. 163.) Pontey says, “ in general
enough;all remain tillth c v
to i
i i l
J'H
‘ I iré
H i
i Al
'(.toi if
i '
s certainly ciose enougti; as a t th a t space the trees may a
s rails, spars, &c.” ^
43^5^6^0^ft^1s asToUowfe-^"^^ be planted on a .statute a cre= 160 rods, or poles.
11 till they
= 4840 yards =
I