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yield their increase by planting the dryer sorts upon 

 the ridges and banks which you cast up, where they 

 will thrive exceedingly : And then willow, sallow, 

 alder, poplar, sycomor, black-cherry, &c. will shoot 

 tolerably well on the lower and more uliginous ; with 

 this caution, that for the first two years, they be kept 

 diligently weeded and cleansed, which is as necessary 

 as fencing, and guarding from cattle. Our ordinary 

 copp'ces are chiefly upon hasle, or the birch ; but if 

 amongst the other kinds, store of ash, (which I most 

 prefer, a speedy and erect growth) chesnut, sallow, 

 and sycomor, (at least one in four) were sprinkled in 

 the planting, the profit would soon discover a differ- 

 ence, and well recompence the industry. Others 

 advise us to plant shoots of sallow, willow, alder, and 

 all the swift-growing trees, being of seven years 

 growth, sloping off both the ends towards the ground, 

 to the length of a billet, and burying them a reason- 

 able depth in the earth. This will cause them to 

 put forth seven or eight branches, each of which will 

 become a tree in a short time, especially if the soil 

 be moist. The nearest distance for these plantations 

 ought never to be less than five foot at first, since 

 every felling renders them wider for the benefit of 

 the timber, even to thirty and forty foot, in five or 

 six fellings. 



2. Though it be almost impossible for us to pre- 

 scribe at what age it were best husbandry to fell 

 copp'ces (as we at least call best husbandry) that is, 

 for most and greatest gain ; since the markets, and 

 the kinds of wood, and emergent uses do so much 

 govern ; yet copp'ces are sometimes of a competent 

 stature after eight or nine years from the acorn, and 

 so every eight or ten years successively, will rise 



