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therefore put to eveiy fervile office. If you 

 wifh to fkreen your houfe from the fouth- 

 weft wind, plant Scotch firs ; and plant them 

 clofe, and thick. If you want to fhelter a 

 nurfery of young trees, plant Scotch firs: 

 and the phrafe is, you may afterwards weed 

 them out, as you pleafe. This is ignominious. 

 I wifh not to rob fociety of thefe hardy fer- 

 vices from the Scotch fir: nor do I mean 

 to fet it in competition with many of the 

 trees of the foreft, which in their infant ftate 

 it is accuftomed to fhelter : all I mean is, to 

 refcue it from the difgrace of being thought 

 fit for nothing elfe ; and to eftablifh it's cha- 

 ra*6ter as a pi&urefque tree. For myfelf, I 

 admire it's foliage; both the colour of the 

 leaf, and it's mode of growth, It's ramifi- 

 cation too is irregular, and beautiful; and 

 not unlike that of the (lone-pine ; which it 

 refembles alfo in the eafy fweep of it's ftem ; 

 and likewife in the colour of the bark, which 

 is commonly, as it attains age, of a rich 

 reddifh brown. The Scotch fir indeed, in 

 it's {tripling flate, is lefs an object of beauty. 

 It's pointed, and fpiry fhoots, during the 

 firft years of it's growth, are formal : and yet 

 I have fometimes feen a good contraft pro 7 



duce4 



