446 



The Gardener's New Director. 



The Oak. 



IHIS monarch of the woods Is bcfl: railed from its 

 {cQ.(\, the Acorn. Authors have diftinguirtied thefe 

 into fcveral forts, but the moil profitable is that we call 

 the Englijh Oak ; and when thefe are defigned to be plant- 

 ed in woods, the fooner after the feeds are ripe, the bet- 

 ter ; the beft Acorns are had from England. 



There are three different ways of planting them, which 

 I (hall here take notice of. The firil and mofl: profitable 

 is, when they are planted in the places where they are 

 defigned to (land, in woods, in fhort healthy ground, in 

 the neighbourhood of Junipers, fliort dwarf Sauches and 

 Ferns, and fcaniling Wliins. There you have little elfe 

 to do than to open the foil with the fpade, thrufl:ing the 

 imallend down into the earth, four or five inches, turn- 

 ing it round feveral times to break the hiould, and a lit- 

 tle of the fod above, to allow the young ftem to come 

 up freely. Above this, towards the winter, you muft 

 lay an inch and a half deep oi" earth, to protect; them 

 from the frofts, and vi^hen you perceive them coming up 

 in the fpring, and have too little earth above them, give 

 them half an inch more. In this way they may be plant- 

 ed pretty thick, and when they grow up you may weed 

 them as occafion requires; and this may be done a fe- 

 cond time, when the trees begin to grow more full, and 

 their heads begin to meet together: Thefe young trees 

 are always of ufe in country affairs. I am certain from 

 many experiments, that this hardy method of bringing 

 up trees, is beil for their future growth ; for here they 

 get in all kinds of foils, and if by chance you put them 

 into abetter foil than that wherein they were fown, they 

 will thrive the better. 



The Acorns fhould be chofen from fuch trees as are 

 tall, ftreight, well thriving, and well growing. Thofe 

 of Poliard trees fiiould always be rejected; by Pollard 

 trees, I mean fuch as are crooked and fmall, and are fit 

 only for fmall country ufes ; thofe, tho' they produce 

 motl Acorns, are not to be chofen for feed. You Avill 



have 



