The Gardener's New Director. 455 



rows, at three feet di (lance row from row, and two feet 

 plant from plant, thrufling down the earth to their roots. 

 In fummer they muft be kept quite free from weeds; 

 and the year after they are planted, if the weather is 

 very parching, you muft give them water, which will 

 promote their growth, obferving particularly to take off 

 all fide branches from them. This is contrary to the 

 rule I have laid down in pruning other trees; the reafon 

 is, that as the Afli fucks very much, and when young is 

 very full of poies, it thereby imbibes fufficiently to fup- 

 port its flock, and maintain its trunk, without the help 

 of its lateral branches: But in taking thefe off, you mufl: 

 obferve to do it late in autumn, and early in the fpring, 

 atherwife your trees will bleed, and fuffer much. In 

 this nurfery they may remain three years, and then you 

 muft think of planting them out where they are to re- 

 main. In this particular many people differ. In treating 

 of woods fome affirm, that every fourth or fifth tree in 

 the wood fhould be an Afh: What they mean by this, is 

 hard to fay ; for I am certain, that no tree will thrive 

 under the drop of the Afh, nor even in its neighbour- 

 hood, becaufe it is fo flrong a fucker, that it exhaufls 

 all the nourifhment round it; for thefe reafons, there- 

 fore, it was my conftant practice to plant out thofe trees 

 from the nurfery, into large woods or plantations, into 

 the beft ground I could chufe for them, and all by them- 

 felves, at ten fquare feet diflance; and after they have 

 been planted two years, you can eafily perceive, by their 

 grov.'th, what are thriving ard what are not, what are 

 ftraight and what are crooked. The fickly and crooked 

 ones fhould be cut over, to within half a foot of the 

 ground early in the fpring, which will induce them to 

 fhoot out noble ftraight ftems : for no tree whatever 

 agrees better with being cut down than the Arti. By 

 this culture the flraight thriving A(h tree will mount up 

 to a great height, and add beauty to the forell, while 

 the weaker plants form a kind of underwood, which may 

 be cut every eight or ten years, for arbour, hop, and 

 efpalier poles, and for hoops, to the great profit of the 

 owners of fuch plantations. 



The Carolina Afh, with the Flat-key, together with 

 the Caldbriun round-Icaved Afli, commonly culUd the 



II h 2 Mann* 



