12 S YL V A BOOK i 



CHAPTER II. 



Of the Seminary and of Transplanting. 



i . Qui vineam^ ve/ arbustum constituere volet, seminaria 

 prius facers debebit^ was the precept of Columella, i. 

 3. c. 5. speaking of vineyards and fruit-trees : and 

 doubtless, we cannot pursue a better course for the 

 propagation of timber-trees : For though it seem but 

 a trivial design that one should make a nursery of 

 foresters ; yet it is not to be imagin'd, without the 

 experience of it, what prodigious numbers a very 

 small spot of ground well cultivated, and destin'd for 

 this purpose, would be able to furnish towards the 

 sending forth of yearly colonies into all the naked 

 quarters of a lordship, or demesnes ; being with a 

 pleasant industry liberally distributed amongst the 

 tenants, and dispos'd of about the hedg-rows, and 

 other waste, and uncultivated places, for timber, 

 shelter, fuel, and ornament, to an incredible advantage. 

 This being a cheap, and laudable work, of so much 

 pleasure in the execution, and so certain a profit in 

 the event ; to be but once well done (for, as I affirm'd, 

 a very small plantarium or nursery will in a few years 

 people a vast extent of ground) hath made me some- 

 times in admiration at the universal negligence, as 

 well as rais'd my admiration, that seeds and plants of 

 such different kinds, should like so many tender 

 babes and infants suck and thrive at the same breast : 

 Though there are some indeed will not so well 

 prosper in company ; requiring peculiar juices : But 

 this niceness is more conspicuous in flowers and the 



