Of Plantations. 479 



II. Of Plantations. 



On various accounts, plantations merit particular atten- 

 tion. Besides answering the purposes of natural wood, for 

 all the important objects for which that substance is appli- 

 cable, planting is perhaps the only improvement of which, 

 in many cases, extensive tracts are susceptible. Several 

 sorts of trees also, may thus be introduced, which, though not 

 indigenous, will, under proper management, thrive in a 

 country. In this way, likewise, the climate is improved, by 

 the shelter thus obtained; and the beauty of the scenery is 

 heightened, by covering barren rocks, and bleak heaths, with 

 the verdure of woods. 



It is certainly a fortunate circumstance, that, with the ex- 

 ception of very high mountains, there is scarcely any por- 

 tion of land, so poor, barren, rocky, or unproductive, as not 

 to admit of this species of improvement, provided trees, 

 suited to the quality of the soil, and the nature of the cli- 

 mate, are selected, and the proper modes of treating them 

 are practised. But though there are inducements to plant, 

 yet, unless in places where the demand is great, trees should 

 not be reared in any quantity, upon land that may be made 

 subservient to agriculture or productive pasture. Crops of 

 grain, or herbage, will, in general, produce a much more 

 expeditious and more profitable return ( 559 ). 



Before a plantation is begun, the following points ought 

 to be considered : 1. The manner in which young plants 

 ought to be raised ; 2. The trees best calculated for several 

 soils and situations ; 3. The manner in which they ought 

 to be planted; 4*. The expense of planting; 5. The mode 

 of management; and, 6. The probable profit. 



1. Some have maintained, that it is better to raise the 

 young plants in a nursery, than to sow the seed in the 

 ground where the trees are to be raised. The late Mr Davis, 

 author of the Wiltshire Report, whose skill and experience 

 were doubtless considerable, contended, that where the oak 

 was well managed, it would be bigger and taller at seven 

 years old, when raised in the nursery, and its tap-root cut, 

 than one uncut would be at ten ( 56 ). Strong objections, 

 however, have been urged against the using of plants, raised 

 in at least public nurseries, and more especially against the 

 cutting of the tap-root. 



2 H 



