AGRICULTURE. 



longer compensates for the ground occu- 

 pied by them. 



Timber trees and coppices. 



The planting of timber trees is an im- 

 portant aid to general cultivation, parti- 

 cularly in mountainous and moorish situ- 

 ations, whore they afford shelter both for 

 corn crops and cattle. Wherever planta- 

 tions are formed in such situations, the 

 aspect of the surrounding land is always 

 improved, and exhibits a richer verdure. 

 When sudden]}' removed, the contrary 

 effect takes place ; the efforts of human 

 industry are then impaired ; the warmth 

 of the soil is dissipated; vegetation is 

 pierced and chilled by the unresisted 

 blasts which sweep along its surface ; and 

 the cattle are benumbed and stunted, for 

 want of protection from its fury. 



In a fiat and rich country, plantations 

 often operate injuriously ; and lofty hedge 

 vow*, containing- stately trees, check the 

 free passage of the air and light, pi-event 

 the seasonable drying of the ground, and, 

 in a changeful and critical climate, the 

 corn is consequently delayed in its pro- 

 gress to maturity, often cannot fee gather- 

 ed in proper condition, and, sometimes, 

 is completely ruined. These considera- 

 tions will generally be sufficient to de- 

 ride the question of planting timber trees 

 in particular situations. Where the prac- 

 tice is thought judicious, with a view to 

 the melioration of the soil, the larch, 

 which is the quickest grower, and the 

 most valuable of all the resinous trees, 

 will be entitled to a preference. 'The 

 most barren ground will answer all its 

 demands for nourishment. For oak, bet- 

 1 er lands are indispensable. Beech trees 

 under the protection of Scotch firs, pre- 

 viously planted for their shelter, will lay 

 hold, eventually, even of a soil which 

 pessesses neither clay nor loam, and 

 thrives so rapidly as to require, in a short 

 period, that the firs should be cut down, 

 to afford freer air and ramification. 



The use of small plantations of timber 

 on large estates is very considerable. A 

 vast quantity of posts, spars, and rafters, 

 for buildings of every description on the 

 farm, is perpetually called for in such 

 circumstances, and will thus be fully sup- 

 plied on the spot ; whereas the want of it 

 is attended with extreme expense and in- 

 convenience. Planting should commence 

 in October, and may be continued till 

 April, excepting during frost. Injuries 

 from cattle must be effectually guarded 

 against in plantations, in their infant 



stage, which are as easily ruined as fields 

 of corn. The fences, therefore, should 

 be kept in the best possible repair. 



With respect to coppices, the caution 

 about cattle is equally necessary. When 

 coppices have attained the age of four- 

 teen years, they may, generally speaking, 

 be cut down more profitably than at any 

 other age ; and the most advantageous 

 method, after this, is to sort out the wood 

 for appropriate purposes, whether for fu- 

 el, hoops, or hop poles ; which arrange- 

 ment will, in almost all cases furnishing 

 such varieties, abundantly compensate 

 for the time taken up in making it. In 

 some situations, as in Surry for stakes and 

 edders,in Gloucestershire for cord wood, 

 in Yorkshire for railing, these articles 

 yield a considerable advantage ; and as 

 they are sure of a market within a small 

 distance, which, with respect to the car- 

 riage of so bulky a commodity, is a point 

 of the first consequence, an annual fall 

 of wood applicable to these purposes may 

 be desirable. The ground appropriated 

 for its growth should be divided into that 

 number of sowings or plantations, which 

 will equal the number of years intended 

 for their growth before cutting. The ma- 

 nagement will thus be easy as well as 

 profitable, and fall naturally, without agi- 

 tation and embarrassment^ into the regu* 

 lar business of the year.* These planta- 

 tions may be sown either in October or 

 March. The land being in good order, 

 it should be sown with corn or pulse, 

 appropriate to the season and soil, after 

 which the tree seeds should be put across 

 the land :-n drills. Acorns and nuts must 

 be dibbled, and the key berries scattered 

 in trenches, drawn by the hoe, at four 

 feet distance. Osiers may often be culti- 

 vated to great advantage, yielding a profit 

 in the second, or at least in the third year ; 

 while a coppice requires 15 or 20, and 

 an oak 100 years, to attain to its maturity. 



Cattle. 



A considerable part of the stock of a 

 farmer must always consist of cattle ; 

 and the maintenance and management of 

 these, therefore, must ever be an object 

 of great consequence ; and in proportion 

 to the number of them which he keeps 

 for sale, in addition to those which he 

 employs on account of their immediate 

 service and labour, the importance of the 

 subject is inci-eased to him. Whether, 

 in the latter point of view, oxen or horses 

 are the more advantageous, has been a long 

 agitated question. In situations in whicfh 



