Trenching

In preparing the land for plantations, the same chemical examination of the composition well illustrates the advantages derived by the plant, from merely previously stirring the soil; since it is evident that when the constituents of the young trees are contained in it in only very limited proportions, in such case the more easily their roots are enabled to penetrate in search of that necessary nourishment, the more rapid will be their growth.

Previous trenching of the soil also conduces to the healthy growth of trees in more ways than one. It renders them less subject to injury from want of moisture in the heats of summer; the atmosphere more freely finds access to their roots; and not only yields its watery vapour in the warmest weather for their service, but its gases, so es-sential to their very existence, are also in a similar manner more readily absorbed.

Draining

The most neglected, yet most important, of all the branches of forest culture, is draining. This ought to be done thoroughly before planting ; but if it has been neglected, may be done at any time, the sooner the better, and the effects will surprise, in a year or two, even the most sanguine. I have seen larch plantations, by draining only, converted from sickly worthless trees to thriving valuable woodlands.

Planting

"Too little attention," Mr. C. Johnson justly observes, "is usually paid by planters in the choice of their plants, the manner in which they have been reared, and in the care of their removal. Instead of attending to the acquired habits of the tree, it is a very common practice for the plants to be bought of some nurseryman who has reared them in a warm rich bottom, and then, as a natural consequence, when the trees are transplanted to a cold, poor, hungry, exposed soil, a large proportion of them are sure to perish, or, if they live, many become stunted or stag-headed.

"There are other very common errors, of which I have long noticed the ill effects ; for instance, the want of care with which the roots of the young trees are deposited in the earth, and the unnecessary length of time which is suffered to elapse between the period when the plant is taken from the nursery and replanted. I have always found the good effect of causing the roots of the young plant to be carefully arranged and spread out before the earth is thrown in upon them-the usually heedless way in which the roots are thrust into the hole, and perhaps broken or materially bruised in the act of treading in the earth upon them, is of necessity prejudicial to the young plant; and then, again, a still more negligent practice, that of ploughing in the young trees, is too often adopted on a large scale, by which the plants are still more hastily deposited in the soil, and are neither fixed with sufficient firmness in the ground, nor even placed in an upright position." - Farm. Enc.

There is certainly no economy in this hasty mode of planting; the trees perish in great numbers; they linger for years without vigour; have to be replaced at a considerable expense; and, in the mean time, the owners lose all the advantage which might have been ensured from a more skilfully obtained rapidity of growth. In planting on a large scale, the same pains and care should be taken as in inserting a shrub in the parterre.

Pruning

If care be taken to rub off ill-placed shoots in the early stages of a tree's growth, no after-pruning- no extensive application of the knife and saw - will be required, except in case of casualties. When a large branch requires amputation, it is best to leave a stump projecting a full foot from the stem. The face of the wound should be towards the ground, and the edges trimmed smooth with a very sharp knife.