CHAP. CXIII.

coni'fer.®. za'rix.

2389

shrubs were entirely removed, young and small plants seemed more desirablethan large ones, especially as young ones could be inserted with greaterfacility into the ground, anil at much less cost than old ones. The pladt,of making pits with the spade is always an expensive one; and the planting inpits can never be accomplished without the assistance of two people, one tohold the plant upright, and the other to shovel in the turf and the earth withthe spade. The turf being thrown on its back into the bottom of the pit, tofacilitate its rotting, it forms a serious obstacle to the expansion of the tenderroots of the young plant. These pits, when made in the beginning of winter,get filled with rain water or melted snow; and, even should the plants be in-serted into them when they are in a dry state, the water will afterwards runinto the hollow around the plant. This hollow in the top of the pit is formedfrom the circumstance of the earth, which had been taxen out of it at firstbeing unable to fill it again. This is a property of mould well known toplanters and labourers. The roots of the plants become chilled. Three orfour years old transplanted plants may be so chilled in this manner, as toprevent their pushing out a shoot above 2 in. in length in one season forseveral years. The slit, on the other hand, formed by the planting instru-ment, resists all ingress of wetness or cold, the surface closing together as ifit had never been cut; and the natural grassy covering protects the youngplant from the severer effects of the frost. A one-year-old transplanted plantor a seedling, when inserted into a slit in the ground, takes immediate hold ofthe mould below, and grows onwards without molestation from the weather.This plant instrument consists of a flat piece of iron, shaped like the head ofa flat spear or a mason’s trowel, 10 in. in length, and 5 in. in breadth at thewidest part. Its neck, which is of one piece with the blade, is 7 in. long, andpasses through and is riveted to a cross handle of wood, that remains firmin the plane of the blade. The whole instrument is made stout, and of thebest materials. It costs only Is. 6 d. In using this instrument, the planterholds it in one hand, and the plants in the other ; and he makes a slit in theground of the requisite depth for the plant to be inserted; then pushing theroots of the plant carefully into the slit, so that they shall not point upwards,he finishes the operation by treading with his heel the ground firm around theplant.

“ The Expense of Labour in planting was greatly reduced by the use of thisinstrument. Pit-planting required 20 men to pit and plant an acre in a day;whereas two men will do the same work, in the same time, with^ the spear-planter. The three and four years old transplanted larch cost 10s. per 1000 :the seedlings only cost 2s. 6 d. per 1200. But, besides this direct saving ofexpense in employing the slit to the pit planting, there is the advantage ofscarcely one plant going back by the former mode; whereas, by the latter,many go back, which are obliged to be filled up afterwards with fresh plants,creating an additional expense; and many that continued to grow assumed asickly hue for some years after they were planted.”

Here three tabular views are given, by which it appears that two-years-oldtransplanted plants, that had been chilled in winter-made pits with cold andwetness, and which were 1 ft. 2 in. high when planted, were, after being 6 yearsin the pits, only 3 ft. 7 in. high. The same-sized plants, planted in spring-madepits, were, at the end of 6 years, 6ft. 10in. high; and the same descriptionof plants, planted by slit, were 1) ft. 2 in. high in the same period; beingno less than 7 ft. 5 in. higher than those planted in the autumn-made pits,at more than treble the expense.

Soil and Situation. “ It is an error to suppose that the larch will thrive inall soils and in all situations. There are many kinds of soils in which it willnot thrive, and ought not to be planted. It has been found that, in soilswhich have been turned up by the plough, and which have borne corn crops,the larch cankers : it cankers in wet situations also.” On this passage, Mr.Gorrie observes, that he has not found the larch, generally, to canker whenplanted on land that has borne crops. “ In soils resting on a clayey subsoil,

7 p 4