AGRICULTURE. 287 



the cattings, which must be done in rows half a yard plants of the 

 asunder, and about four inches from each other in the white thorn 

 row ; they ought to be about four inches long, and p^op^'g^^J 

 planted with the top one-fourth of an inch out of the from cuttings 

 ground, and well fastened : otherwise they will not sue- ^^ ^^^ roots, 

 ceed so well. 



The reason why I prefer spring to autumn for planting 

 the roots, is, that were they to be planted in autumn, 

 they would not have got sufficient hold of the ground 

 before the frost set in, which would raise them all from 

 the ground, and, if not entirely destroy the plants, 

 would oblige the farmer to plant them afresh. 



I have attached the produce of my three-year-old 

 specimen to the plants it came from, cut in the way I 

 always practise ; on the thick end of the root I make 

 two, and on the other end one cut, by which means the 

 proper end to be planted uppermost, which is the thick 

 One, may easily be known. 



Although I recommend the roots to be planted in 

 April, yet the farmer may, where he pleases, take up the 

 thorns he may want, and put the roots he has pruned off 

 into sand or mould, where they will keep until he has 

 leisure to cut them into proper lengths for planting ; he 

 will likewise keep them in the same way, until planted. 



The great advantage of my plan is : first, that in case 

 any one has raised from haws, a thorn with remarkably 

 large prickles, of vigorous growth, or possessing any other 

 qualification requisite to make a good fence, he may pro- 

 pagate it far better and sooner, from roots, than any 

 other way. Secondly, in three years he may raise from 

 roots a better plant, than can in six years be raised from 

 haws, and with double the quantity of roots; my three- 

 year-old specimen would have been half as big again, had 

 I not been obliged to move all my cuttings the second 

 year after they were planted. 



It would not be a bad way, in order to get roots, to 

 plant a hedge in any convenient place, and on each side 

 trench the ground two yards wide, and two grafts deep ; 

 from which, every two or three years, a large quantity 

 of roots might be obtained, by trenching the ground 

 over again, and cutting away what roots were found, 



which 



