Part 5

The Larch is found, in greater or smaller proportions, in most places where Plantations are made; and it is entirely the planter’s fault, if he be not well acquainted with its character, as a nurse for Oak. I say this, because it has been so extensively tested, and its habits are so well known, that no one, having the slightest wish to become acquainted with it, can have failed for want of opportunity.

I have very often seen the Larch where it has proved an exceedingly bad nurse; where, in fact, instead of nursing the Oaks, it has destroyed them: but this has, of course, arisen from “mismanagement,” and might have been avoided. When good, stiff, healthy Oak Plants are put in with Larch only, or but with very few of any other sort, the Larch ought not, in the first place, to be put too near—the exact distance can only be determined relatively to that of the Oaks—secondly: an advantage should be given to the Oaks, if possible, at the start; either by assigning them a portion of the soil from the land intended for the Larch, or in some other way; after which, if the latter are constantly watched, they will approve themselves very suitable and valuable nurses; but if they are allowed, as they too generally are, to take the lead of the Oak, they will plentifully avail themselves of the licence, to the serious and, perhaps, irreparable injury of that plant.

For large Plantations, intended for profit, it may be questioned whether, in the first instance, any thing else than Oak and Larch should be planted, and the distance must be decided after due consideration is given to the quality and condition of the land.

If, however, a disposition is felt to plant other kinds, as nurses, there can be no objection, provided that their companionship is made fully to square with the well-being of the trees intended for timber.

But where it is intended to introduce nothing that shall not act as a good nurse for the Oak, exception must certainly be taken to the Alder, the Poplars, the Sycamore, the Horse Chesnut, the Birch, and the Scotch Fir, &c. Not one of these discovers any congeniality for the Oak, nor any fitness for the office of nursing it; and it does really appear to my mind, as most unaccountably strange, that trees of all sorts should, without forethought, or calculation—and most particularly, that no reference should be made to their suitability or adaptation for the circumstances in which they are to be placed—be planted at a greater cost than would have sufficed to procure an ample number of the right sort.

Upon a suitable soil, the Spruce Fir has always appeared to me, to be decidedly and incomparably the best nurse of the Oak. I have, for instance, often seen, on a clay soil, a Spruce Fir, and an Oak of twenty-five years growth, flourishing admirably, in close proximity with each other—even within a foot and a half. I do not think that this could be said of any other tree than the Spruce Fir; but besides this, there is almost always a very peculiar healthiness about the Oaks, where the Spruce has been planted and cherished as the principal nurse. There seems to be the best possible understanding between them—no struggling for pre-eminence—no blighting influence exercised by the one over the other. But the Spruce Fir is not found to flourish so well on some soils as on others: it will therefore, mostly, be advisable to unite with it, for a number of years, the Larch, which may be so placed as to be all weeded out during the course of thinning, which ought to commence in a few years after planting, and go on until there remains nothing but Oak in possession of the ground.

In concluding my remarks on Planting, I cannot help referring to the specimens of sowing and thick planting, which may be seen on the extensive estate of the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck, and in that neighbourhood. It has always been His Grace’s practice, either to sow Acorns, or to plant Oaks, in alternate beds, having Larch between. If the Oaks were planted, they were put in very thickly; and although their progress was necessarily slower than it would have been, if they had been allowed more room, it cannot be doubted that His Grace had a great advantage in the almost unlimited choice which it gave him, of trees of perfect form, for the ultimate crop of timber.

The system of thick planting has been fully carried out: having prepared the ground well, His Grace appears to have never lost sight, for an instant, of the young trees that he had undertaken to rear: there has been no mistaken practice—no niggardly economy—no ruinous neglect, rendering all his previous care abortive, and sacrificing his large outlay at the commencement. When the Plantations have required attention, they have evidently had it.

The admirer of fine timber will see, in the Duke’s Plantations and grounds, some of the most perfectly formed trees that can be conceived of, and that not on a small scale, but to an extent as comprehensive as that truly noble Duke’s genius, of whom it may probably be said that he unites, in his mind and person, as many of those qualities which constitute true Nobility, as any Gentleman of his day.

It is not in the power of my feeble pen to show the immense amount of good which has accrued to the immediate neighbourhood, from the employment of the poor in the locality, in carrying on, and in completing, those splendid improvements which His Grace has originated, and which have caused the literal desert to “blossom as the rose”: much less can I describe the area of the vast circle, within which the most beneficial effects have been felt, from the influence of the noble Duke’s example, while perfecting, as he has done, his various plans for the improvement of his fine estate.

In the Welbeck Plantations will be found, as I have said, a class of trees, most perfectly suited to the situations where they stand, and giving the surest promise of future superiority: but what, let me ask, would have been the quality of the Oaks, if the noble Duke had jumbled together an incongruous admixture of various sorts, as has been recommended by various writers of eminence, even in our own day? I am not disposed to enter into a controversy with any of those who have recorded their opinions in their writings, otherwise I might have plenty of work on my hands: it will be quite as much as ought to be expected from me, if I defend my own: but I would just quote a single paragraph from an interesting and useful, but, on some points, incorrect volume, published by “The Society for the diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” It is entitled “Useful and Ornamental Planting.” The passage to which I refer, will be found in the 43rd page, and runs thus:

“Simple Plantations consist of one or two species of trees only; mixed Plantations of many different species. The latter, on suitable soils, are the most profitable: they afford an earlier, more permanent, and a larger return for Capital than simple Plantations.”

In a book where there is so much to commend, where so many valuable practical directions are given, it cannot but excite regret, to meet with a paragraph so vague and unsatisfactory as the above; for I cannot but remark, that if any planter should adopt the suggestion which is thrown out, it will end in disappointment and loss. It will, in my judgment, generally be best for the planter to select such trees for nurses as are most congenial, and best adapted to the local market; and surely these will not be the Birch, the Beech, the Alder, or the Scotch Fir; none of which are ever found to answer the purpose of nursing the more valuable timber trees, or of securing a fair return for the investment of capital.

It is true that the opinion which I have quoted, is afterwards qualified by the remark, that certain “circumstances connected with the growth of the various species of forest trees, effectually control the planter in his modes of arrangement, &c.” but even with this limitation, the planter is liable to be misled, for he is not taught to set a higher value upon the Larch, which may in almost every locality be planted with a much better chance of profit, than the other kinds with which it is ranked, and which ought therefore, if profit be the object, for that reason alone, to be preferred.

In any thing else but planting, the mischief of such a mistake, as producing that which was worthless when produced, would, in a short time, have cured itself; but so little of science, or even of common calculation, have been brought to bear upon the practice of Arboriculture, that, notwithstanding the evidence which is every where to be met with, of serious “loss and disappointment,” for want of calculation, these matters go on very much as they “always have done.”

Finally, as to planting, it must, in every case, be perfectly clear to one who is competent to judge, that, whether the object be profit merely, or the embellishment of the landscape, the land ought to be as well prepared as circumstances will permit, and that such species of trees should be preferred, as are best adapted to the specific object of the planter.

The distance at which the plants shall be put in, is more a matter of opinion than some planters would be inclined to admit. For myself, I am disposed to think, that some advantages are lost to a Plantation, under certain combinations of soil and circumstances, when it is planted thickly, but I would not either rate the loss too highly, or express my opinion, with unseemly positiveness: my notion is, that the supposed advantages of planting thickly may generally be supplied by early, judicious pruning, and that the progress of the Plantation would be facilitated thereby: that, in fact, a Plantation of trees at a distance of three feet, being properly assorted, having had a good start, and suitable treatment in all respects afterwards, would reach any given point as to size, and quality, in less time than would another Plantation, upon the same soil, if the method of either sowing acorns, &c., or planting very thickly, were adopted. In saying this, I by no means wish to condemn the practice of thick planting; to do this, in the face of proofs of success, such as I have described as existing in this country, would be an absurdity of which I would not willingly be guilty; but at the same time, I would not hesitate to range myself among those who prefer, under ordinary circumstances, to plant at a moderate distance, and rely upon early pruning, for securing the object which the close planter has in view, viz., length of bole, or stem, and clearness of grain.

I come now to remark upon the

Present mode of managing Plantations after they are made.

Abiding still, most strictly, by the rule laid down for myself, to deal with every part of my subject practically, I proceed to observe, that the instances where Plantations are treated with due regard to the principles of Arboricultural science, are not the rule, but the exceptions to the rule, as every scientific planter, who has looked round him, must know.

Instead of the trees intended for timber being nursed with the tenderest care from their infancy—instead of their being treated according to the known and fixed laws which regulate, and effectually control, the economy of vegetable life, whether men attend to them or not—they too frequently meet with treatment which is in direct opposition to those laws. I shall show this as clearly, and as plainly, as I can.

When a gentleman has decided to plant, when he has fixed upon the right mode of doing it, and has finished it in a proper manner; so far he has done all that could be expected from him; but if, after this, he leaves his Plantation to itself for five, ten, or fifteen years, he transgresses the laws to which I have referred; and his error is one of omission.

Again: were the same gentleman, after the lapse of ten years, or even less, to enter his Plantation, and cut and thin very freely, he would violate those laws by an error of commission, and in this case, as well as the other, the Plantation would very materially suffer.

A Plantation which should be subjected, at so early a stage of its existence as ten or fifteen years, to the ordeal of both these classes of errors, could have but little chance of succeeding: it could not be expected to make any more than very slow progress after such treatment as this: and yet this is exactly the way in which many Plantations are managed, at all stages of their growth. I have recently met with a splendid Larch Plantation, which has never been thinned, from the first, except by “fits and starts”; of which injudicious treatment, I could see very serious “outward and visible signs.” Although it is upon exceedingly weak and poor land, it would have produced, if it had been properly managed, a fine class of Larches, which would have yielded to the proprietor an abundant return upon his outlay. If any one doubt this, let him look around and see if he cannot find a Plantation of forty or fifty years growth, which is crowded with trees—say of Larch only—and he will, upon examination, perceive that there are two or three distinct classes of trees still standing, all of which ought, long before, to have been taken out; and that there is but one class of Larches, probably, which should be standing. The other two classes which I have just mentioned, would be found, if the fact could be clearly come at, very nearly of the same size as they had been many years before; inasmuch as they could not possibly make any wood, being themselves overtopped by their more thriving and vigorous neighbours. It is perfectly obvious too, that the injury arising to the Plantation would not stop here. So long as under-strappers were allowed to remain, they would, to a certain extent, have the effect of preventing the admission of light and air into the Plantation, which would materially affect the health and the progress of the standard trees.

The errors of omission are both serious and numerous: those of commission, great though they be, are not equally so. The former are generally first in the order of time, for where one Plantation is injured from too early thinning, there are ten that suffer for the want of it; and this early neglect affects the vitality and prosperity of a Plantation much more than might be supposed. Omitting to do what ought to be done will, however, be very prejudicial to the health of Plantations at any stage of their existence, and it is quite well known to the experienced Forester, that they ought ever to be watched with most tender care, until the planter is fully satisfied that he has completed the nursing and training of a sufficient number of standard trees, to furnish the ultimate crop.

But errors of omission sometimes admit of remedy; whereas, if injury is committed by excessive thinning, or by cutting down trees which ought to have remained, it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to repair the mischief that is done. Both the errors to which I have alluded, must be avoided by the planter who would desire to have a healthy and continuously thriving Plantation.

Having considered well the following points, viz., the preparation of his land—the selection of the species of trees that he will plant—their size and quality—and the distance at which they shall stand from each other, he must remember that, from the very first, they will not only require, but they will well pay for, his closest attention. During the first seven years, he may, probably, have little else to do at them than to keep the land clean; but this will, in some degree, depend upon the distance which he has chosen for them; and on the kind which he intends for the final crop of timber. But whatever they may be—whether the Oak alone, or along with some other species, the trees intended for timber will demand the peculiar, the unremitted, attention of the planter: his object must ever be to deal with all the rest, with distinct, direct, and positive reference to the careful nursing of those: and it must always be borne in mind, that whatever be the fate of the nurses, those which I will again distinguish from the rest, by calling them the standard trees, must, if possible, be kept in vigorous health. This can only be done, concurrently with the ultimate object of securing great length of bole, by pruning of some sort or other. If the trees are so planted as to insure natural pruning, no other, except of the nurses, will be required, but the first operation will be thinning; which should be done with great care and judgment. Where it is not so done, it is more than probable that trees will be taken which should have been left, and the contrary. As it respects the Oak, the principal point to be aimed at is, to spare all those, as the thinning goes on, that have the best defined heads. This will be an easy matter with an experienced and well-taught planter, or woodman, and the difficulty, if any there be, will be less at each succeeding thinning, as the heads of the trees develope themselves.

But when trees are not planted so thickly as to insure length of bole by natural pruning, they must be pruned with the knife and the bill-hook, and the earlier the operation is begun, the better.