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underwood, which may be regularly cut for coppice ; 

 at same time it will be found extremely useful in rear- 

 ing up a tree or trees to supply the place of any of 

 the old ones that may be broken by storm or other- 

 wise destroyed. The oak, natural wood, or coppice 

 on this farm is, for the most part, very thriving ; 

 where the stools have been partially thinned they 

 will require no more till it comes again of age for 

 cutting. There are in many places a great deal of 

 birch, alder, and even larch firs almost put into the 

 very heart of oak stools, which was a most injudicious 

 and ruinous method of planting, as they tend to ex- 

 tirpate the oak stool, which is by far the most profit- 

 able crop ; a very great improvement may be made 

 in the oak stools before cutting time, both as to wood 

 and bark, by going carefully through, and cutting all 

 such birch, alder, and larch firs, or any other tree 

 that is over-topping or in the least injuring the oak 

 stools ; this should be done immediately, particularly 

 before the sap rises in the oak, even the fine oak 

 stools surrounding the small fields of Auchedroich, 

 notwithstanding their easy access, are much annoyed 

 with trash of this kind, a few open casts cut through 

 some of the marshy places here to let off the surface 

 water, would much improve the oak stools before cut- 

 ting time, from the descent of the ground this could 

 be very easily done ; observe, I do not mean deep 

 draining, but only small open casts or ruts on the 

 surface, merely to make the surface water run off, 

 keep one course, and not lodge amongst and overrun 

 all the oak stools ; observe the same through all the 

 coppices on this farm where wet. This plantation 

 contains upwards of 50 acres, a third part of which 

 was a complete bog ; it would not carry a person 

 before being planted, and was only surface drained 



