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iahd while they are out, to guard their roots frorn the 

 drying winds". The fureft time for removing thefe 

 trees is about the beginning of April ; for though 

 they may be, and often are, removed with fuccefs at 

 Michaelmas, yet the fpring is the more fure feafon, 

 efpecially in nioiil land. 



Moft of the kinds of Firs may be removed at the 

 heio-ht of fix or feven feet ; but thofe of two feet high 

 are muchbetter totranfplant,andwill in afewyearsgain 

 the afcendant of taller trees : I would not, therefore, 

 advife the traniplanting of thefe trees when they are 

 much above two feet high, efpecially if they have 

 flood in the nurfery unremoved. For then their 

 roots will have extended themfelves to a diftance, 

 which mufi: be cut in taking them out of the ground ; 

 and where great amputation is ufed either to the roots 

 or branches of thefe trees, the quantity of turpentine 

 which commonly ifTues from thefe wounds, will great- 

 ly weaken the trees. There is another advantage alfo 

 in planting them when fmall, which is that of not 

 requiring (taking to fecure them from being blown 

 down by ftrong winds, which in tall trees is a great 

 trouble or expence. And whoever will give them- 

 felves the trouble to obferve, how much trees of two 

 feet high exceed in growth thofe which are removed 

 at a much greater height, will, I am fure, be con- 

 vinced of the truth of what is here faid. 

 The common Spruce Fir is what affords the white 

 deals. The trees grow in the deep ftrong foils of 

 Norway and Denmark ; but will grow likcwife in al- 

 moft any foil or fituation in England, provided it be 

 not within the reach of the fmoke of great cities, 

 which is very injurious to all thefe forts of trees *, nor 

 do they thrive near fo well in dunged land, as in frelh 

 uncultivated foils. The difrepute thefe trees have 

 been under for fome years paft, has been occafioned 

 by their being planted too clofe together, or too near 

 other trees, whereby the air has been excluded from 

 their branches, which has occafioned moft of their 

 under branches to decay ; fo that when viewed from 

 the ground under their branches, they have a greater 

 appearance of dead than living trees. But where they 

 have been allowed a good diftance, and planted in a 

 ftrong frePa foil, they have had their branches quite 

 feathered within fix or eight feet of the ground, and 

 that too in trees upward of fixty feet high j therefore 

 Ihould not be planted nearer than twelve feet apart, 

 nor ftiould they be fo near, where the plantation is 

 more than three rows deep. In this cafe, eighteen 

 or twenty feet afunder will be full near enough, efpe- 

 cially where the trees are defigned to have their 

 branches feathered near the ground, in which one of 

 the beauties of thefe trees confifts. 

 The Silver Fir requires a ftronger land than the 

 Spruce, for in dry ground they feldom make any 

 great progrefs ; and many times, even after they have 

 arrived to a confiderable fize, are deftroyed by very 

 dry feafons, where the foil is ftiallow, or too dry., 

 But when they are planted in a proper foil, they grow 

 to a very large fize, and are extremely beautiful, hav- 

 ing the under fide of their leaves white, and the up- 

 per fide of a dark green colour.. 



This fort of Fir, however, is frequendy injured by 

 frofts, when they happen late in the fpring, efpecially 

 while the plants are young. For when thefe are plant- 

 ed in a warm fituation, they are apt to fhoot pretty 

 early, and if any fharp frofts happen after they have 

 puflied, the young ihoots are killed ; fo that they 

 lofe a year's growth, and are rendered fo very un- 

 fightly, that many times they have been pulled up 

 and thrown away. In cold fituations, however, where 

 they do not begin to ftioot fo early, they are not fub- 

 jeft to this difafter ; and, in many fuch places, thefe 



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have fometimes feen fome fine trees of this fort of 

 Fir, which grew upon natural bogs, where, by ex- 

 tending their roots, they had drained the ground to 

 a confiderable diftance round them. There were fome 



trees of this kind lately growing in England^ up- 

 wards of ninety feet high. 



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The methcd cf raifmg the ether forts of Firs, 



About the latter end of March, or the beginning of 

 April (according to the forwardnefs of the feafon, by 

 .which every perfon muft be guided) prepare a very 

 moderate bed, in length proportional to the quantity 

 of feeds to be fown, and where there are frames whicli 

 can be fpared for this purpofe, thefe may be placed 

 upon the bed ; but wliere thefe are wanting, the bed 

 fliould be cradled over with hoops, that they may be 

 covered with mats or canvafs -, then plunge the bed 

 full of fmall pots, fuch as are commonly fold about 

 London for four fliillings and twopence per hundred. 

 Thefe pots fhould be filled with light undunged earth, 

 and the interftices between the pots may be filled up 

 with any other earth which is neareft to the place ; 

 then fow the feeds in thefe pots, covering them about 

 half an Inch with the fame light earth. In drying winds 

 - the bed fliould be covered, to prevent the earth from 

 drying too faft, which would prove hurtful to the 

 feeds ; nor fliould the feeds have too much wet, which 

 would be equally injurious to them : therefore the 

 earth fliould be but feldom watered, and it muft ne- 

 ver be given in great quantities. When there is any 

 appesPrance of froft at night, the bed fliould alfo be 

 covered. With this management the plants will ap- 

 pear in five or fix weeks time, when they muft be 

 carefully guarded from birds, as was before direfted 

 for the common forts, and alfo fcreened from the fun 

 in the middle of the day ; but they muft now have 

 frefli air admitted to them at all times when the wea- 

 ther will permit. They may alfo be allowed to re- 

 ceive any gentle fliowers of rain, but they fliould not 

 have too great plenty of moifture, which will fre- 

 quently rot the young plants, and caufe them to 

 drop. - Upon the judicious care of this, depends 

 the whole fuccefs ; for I have frequently feen great 

 numbers of thefe plants deftroyed in one day, by be- 

 ing either too much expofed to the fun, or from hav- 

 ing too much wet. 



It may, perhaps, feem ftrange to many, that I fliould 

 direft the fowing the feeds of thefe trees which are fo 

 very hardy upon a hot-bed -, but from many trials I 

 . have always found they have fucceeded much better 

 this way than any other, for the gentle warmth of 

 the bed will not only caufe the feeds to vegetate much 

 fooner than they would naturally do in the cold ground, 

 but the plants will alfo rife much ftronger, and, con- 

 fequently, be in lefs danger of rotting in their flianks. 

 And as the warmth of the bed is only to bring up the 

 plants, fo there fhould be but little dung employed 

 in making' it; for after the plants are up, they muft 

 be inured to the open air, and treated as hardily as 

 the common forts. 



There may be others, perhaps, who will objed: to 

 the direftions given for fowing the feeds in fuch 

 fmall pots, becaufe, where there is any quantity of 

 the feeds, it is ufual to fow them in boxes, or large 

 pots ; but I can from many years experience aver, 

 that moft forts of feeds fucceed better when fown in 

 fmall pots, than in boxes, or larger ones, and there- 

 fore recommend this practice. 



As the feeds of the Hemlock Fir will frequently re- 

 main in the ground fpur or five months, the pots, 

 in which they are fown, fliould not be difturbed, if 

 the plants come not up fo foon as may be expedbed ; 

 for unlefs upon ftirring the ground, the feeds are 

 found to be decayed, there may be hopes of then- 

 growing the fecond fpring, for I have fometimes had 

 the feeds remain a whole year in the ground, and af- 

 terwards come up very well : this caution, therefore, 

 is given to prevent the pots from being too haftily 

 turned out. 



The plants of thefe forts of Fir muft be afterwards 

 treated in the fame way as the common forts, with 

 this difference only, that they ought to be tranfplant- 

 ed into a more fliady fituation and moifter foil. For 

 while the plants are young, they will not thrive if they 

 are much expofed to the fun, gr in a dry foil > but 



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