On Naval Timber and Arboriculture / With Critical Notes on Authors who have Recently Treated the Subject of Planting

by Patrick Matthew

Procure good seed of the best varieties from large healthy trees, and preserve these in husk in dry {170} well-aired places till sowing; with the exception of ash keys, haws, holly-berries, roans, and yew-berries, which require to be put in the rot-heap as soon as gathered. The rot-heap consists of seed mixed with sandy earth formed into a layer not exceeding ten inches in thickness; this is turned several times before midwinter, when it is covered with a layer of earth about seven inches deep, to exclude the frost. After remaining in this heap one year—till September, or the following February, these seeds are sown out.

Sow seeds of trees during the last half of February, March, or April, on beds of high manured easy soil, in very fine tilth, and clear of weeds, such as follows hoed green crop, in distance and depth in proportion to the size of the seed, or rather of the annual stem or braird. To deposit the seed at an equable depth, the upper friable mould is pushed (cuffed) off the bed to the interstices between by the reversed head of a rake, as deep as necessary; the seed is then deposited by the hand, and rolled over by a very light roller to fix it, that it may not suffer derangement by the return of the earth which is then evenly cuffed back from the sides, and no harrowing or raking given.

Watch most narrowly, and ward off or destroy all {171} kinds of vermin, mice, snails, birds, till the time when the rising braird has disencumbered itself of the husk of the seed thrown up by the ascending stem, and nip out every weed as soon as discernible by the naked eye. In order to diminish the toil of watching, the different kinds should be sown as near the same time as their nature renders prudent, and the seed-beds be situated as near each other as circumstances will admit.

At the end of the first or second season, according to size and closeness of plants, remove the seedlings from the bed to nursery rows, at any time when the leaf is off, and the ground sufficiently dry not to poach; before April for deciduous trees, and during April for evergreens, placing them in rather open order, either by dibbling or laying, according to the nature of the root, firming the plants well in the ground; in case of dibbling, taking good heed to leave no vacuum of hole under the root, and to work the tool so as to compress the earth more below than above.

Keep the soil loose and friable on the surface, and clear of weeds between the transplanted rows by repeated seasonable hoeings, and let the plants rise with a single leader.

After the plants have stood one or two years in {172} the nursery-row, remove them to their ultimate destination with as little fracture or exposure of root as possible,—the larger rooted by pitting, and the smaller by slitting, or as the nature of the soil may require; paying most particular attention to plant the dry ground early after the leaf has dropped, and the moister and more adhesive soils in succession, as they become so dry in spring as not to adhere to the tools in working, or poach in treading the plant firm in; removing the evergreens earlier, or later, in April, according to the dryness or moistness of the ground; dipping the roots in a clay-puddle, and endeavouring to seize the opportunity of planting before a shower, should the spring be far advanced and dry, especially in the more arid situations.

Stout healthy seedlings, one or two years old, may be at once removed from the seed-bed to their place in the forest, and will often succeed as well as when nursed in rows, as above.———We have preferred the pick of the seedlings to the common run of the transplanted, as being probably stronger growing varieties.

In cases where it is practicable, work over the new plantations for several years with crops of potatoes, turnips, lettuce, &c., manuring the ground, if {173} possible; and then sow out with perennial rye-grass and white clover, if the trees are not become a close cover, making economical use of the grass as early in the season as it can be mowed with a short scythe.

For seeds that require to lie a season in the rot-heap, such as ash keys, haws, &c. September-sowing is preferable to deferring it to the following spring, as they are liable to chip in the heap. If not sown in September, they must be got in as soon in February as possible.

Acorns, Spanish and Horse Chestnuts, are best sown when they drop from the tree; but when the seed is not procured till spring, the sowing ought not to be deferred beyond February and March. The best soil is a deep rich loam.