PLANTING.

Auckland Times, Volume 2, Issue 57, 13 February 1844, Page 1

PLANTING.

(Continued from our last.)

MODES OF TRANSPLANTING. Furrow planting is performed by opening a furrow with the trenching plough, or with two common ploughs, the one succeeding the other in the same trench or furrow, and opening it to the depth required by the roots of the trees. The roots being placed in the furrow at the proper distances, the workman with the spade finds no difficulty in obtaining the ne< essary quantity of pulver ized soil to compete the work. This mode of planting has been practised with success on the Duke of Bedford’s estates in Bedfordshire, and in Buckinghamshire in the neighbourhood of Woburn. The implement employed was a very strong plough, drawn by six horses, and opening a furrow from twelve to sixteen inches deep, turning the sward or heather over on each side. This was followed by ascuffler or grubber of three tines, which completely stirred and pulverized the soil. On light land eight acres a day was done in this but the soil must be light and free from large stones and other obstructions. That extensive and valuable plantations have been made by slit planting

there are abundant proofs, and on elevated.fun, light soils incumbent on rock, or where trenching cannot be effected or the furrow plough be used, this mode may be adopted witfi economy and success. Before planting by this method, however, it is essential to know the precise nature of the subsoil, and that there does nor exist a hardened stratum, impervious to water, beneath the surface, which frequently'happens in heaths, or si iceous sandy moor lands, it generally consists of the heath soil in a compact layer of about an inch thick, containing a large proportion of oxide of iron, and impervious to water. Beneath, and next to this, is generally grey or white sand, surcharged with water ; and whenever trees are planted, by the slit mode, on soils so constituted, they ne'er make any healthy growth, but perish so soon as the roots reach the hardened stratum: trenching or the o . furrow plough must be employed m such cases to destroy the impervious stratum, and render free the circulation of water and air, otherwise the attempt to establish trees would be vain. When the iand is clean, triable, moderately deep, free from, and not retentive of stagnant moisture, the mode of planting by holing may be adopted with propriety Lands of a tenacious, clayey nature, and also those of the best quality, employed for forest planting, ought to be trenched, as being the most economical ultimately, and the most effectual, for these kinds of soil. The preparation of tenacious clayey soils by paring, burning, and trenching, has already been stated.

Since the above was prepared for the press, we have perused the able tracts on planting by W. Withers, Esq, of Holt, in Norfolk. This gentleman, besides showing, by facts not to be doubted, the superior advantages of trenching, compared to that of holing or slit planting, in the more speedy returns of profits from thinnings, and extra annual increase of timber in the trees left for that purpose, has likewise proved the value of manure to poor soils in conjunction with this mode of preparation. That such a mode of preparation with the application of manure should be highly advantageous for the growth of Ihe more valuable timber trees on soils of the nature now alluded to, will be instantly seen by every one who has care fully examined the natural habits of these trees by the princip es of vegetable physiology already discussed ; and such as may feel reluctant, or have not leisure, to employ this mode of arri ing at a perfect conviction, may be amply con vinced by comparing that soil on which the oak, for instance, or any other of the more valuable timber trees, invariably attains the highest perfection, with that on which it or they are always infe : ior. Compare the constitution of the soil No. 2, at page 7, with that of the soil No. 5, and the almost total absen c e of clay, chalk, and vegetable matter, will be evident in the former. Now, on this soil the oak, according to our experience and observation. is never found in a natural state, and, when planted in it, never attains to any value as a timber tree even with the aid, as nurses, of the pine, birch, and sycamore, which here succeed. On the soil No. 5, where the constituents of the soil are different from those of No. 2, the oak attains to the highest perfection. To supply manure, therefore, composed of day (burnt or recent), chalk, and vegetable matter, or rotten dung, in the requisite proportions, and by deep trenching (remedy ing, in some measure, the defects of the subsoil),

and i»y combining and comminuting the whole as intimately as possible, the soil No. 2 would approximate to that of No. 5, and the oak might then be planted with a certainty of its successful produce of timber. Any smaller application than the necessary , quantity of these ingredients will, of course, give a diminished result as to the crop of timber* but still it will give an increase in proportion to the quantity applied. The principle on which manure is objected to for the rearing of forest trees is, that it will force the growth of the tree beyond its natural state, and render the deposit of vegetable fibre soft, and of diminished strength and durability. This, however, is carrying the point to an extreme to which it is never likely to be in the power of any planter to arrive, were he even willing to attempt if. To manure a poor soil, for it should be here kept in view that this and not a rich, or even moderately rich soil, is intended, can have but one effect, and that is to improve the growth of the trees. But the great, immediate, and important object of manure here, is to furnish a liberal supply of food while the plant is in its first stages of growth, thereby giving it the means to form a strong constitution, enlarging its number of roots and rootlets, and, at the same time, improving the quality of the exhalations from the soil, for absorption by the ‘leaves, which is, in fact, an amelioration of the local climate or air. All these important points to the health of the tree, to the value of its timber, and to the attainment of the object in view, a valuable return in the shortest space of time for the capital expended, are thus highly promoted, and, in a great measure, secured by trenching, manuring, and keeping clear of weeds or surface culture for a limited period after planting. As an answer to the important question, will the sum expended in trenching and manuring be returned with interest and profit in proportion to those of the lesser sum required for planting on unprepared land, Mr. Withers has brought forward facts and observations to which we shall revert when discussing the subject of the valuation of timber trees.

(To be continued.)