84 The Gardener's New Director. 



tutions of all plants, no more than of all trees, are alike, 

 which I grant ; but I affirm, that the general order of 

 vegetation is always the fame, and that Nature is much 

 better plcafcd with her free and uninterrupted produfti- 

 ons, than when flic is conflrained and put out of her 

 courfe. I ftiali give fome proofs for what I have here 

 advanced. 



" An acquaintance of mine, fome years fince, order- 

 ed a bad piece of wood, of about ten or twelve acres, 

 to be deflroyed, where finding amongft the fmall wood, 

 of which it was full, a great many plants of wild pears 

 and apples, newly fhot from kernels, he ordered fuch 

 to be preferved as were fit for grafting, and in the 

 ipring following grafted them, fome by ilit, and others 

 by rind-grafting, according to their fize. The grafts 

 took perfeclly well, and in three years he gathered moft 

 excellent fruit from them ; but I fhould obferve at the ■ 

 fame time, that in clearing the ground, he had the trees 

 grubbed up as deep as poUlblc, which gave the whole a 

 kind of trenching, which was of great advantage to the 

 young grafted trees ; fo that in ten years they formed 

 heads as large as a tranfplanted tree does in twenty-five; 

 and this plantation, made by chance, became an orchard 

 of great profit, which I have often looked over and con- 

 templated with great aftonifliment. 



*< I have one particular more to communicate, relative 

 to the method of making plantations, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris, for cyder. Skilful people come here an- 

 nually, to take up all the wild flocks they can find in the 

 nurferies, of a proper fize ; thefe they carry home, and 

 flit-graft at the end of two years, when they have 

 taken good root. I have often met thefe people in the 

 nurfery-grounds, and upon talking with them, they af- 

 fured me, that the fruits, grafted upon flocks, that were 

 not afterwards removed, fucceeded much better in all 

 refpefits, than ready grafted trees. I am quite of this 

 opinion, without reafoning any farther upon the caufes ; 

 and I hope this little digrefPion is fufficient to convince 

 every one, that my opinion at leafl; is not founded upon 

 groundle's conjectures." 



We fhall here introduce what has been obferved con- 

 cerning the Wildings in our hedges, whofe value to the 



cyder- 



