XXIll 



even surpassed by the practice. They then go 

 away with the impression, that there is nothing 

 so easy as an art, of which they do not think it 

 worth while to study the principles, or even to 

 provide themselves with materials for the practice. 



Taking these plain facts and circumstances into 

 view, and that of the general notice which the 

 new art has attracted, it seems extremely probable 

 that the repute it has so suddenly acquired, may 

 eventually prove the cause of its own failure. Se- 

 duced by an account, however correct, of an 

 effective and rapid field practice, of which the 

 simplicity seems to equal the success of the exe- 

 cution, ignorant or superficial persons might be 

 brought to beheve that the latter is to be attained 

 without any trouble to themselves. Uneducated 

 foresters, or self-sufficient gardeners, might there- 

 fore, be set to work by them, to practise, or, 

 more probably, to improve upon the preservative 

 method; and thus what was begun in indolence 

 or ignorance, would, in all likelihood, end in vexa- 

 tion and disappointment. But it is to the imperfec- 

 tion of the system^ and not to their own unskilful- 

 ness, that such operators would be sure to ascribe 

 an unfavourable issue. 



