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called, ill this part of the country, " shows," which, when 

 they accumulate in the mill-yard, arc generally thrown into 

 the river, and carried away by the next flood.* During the 

 scutching season, which commences in autumn, and extends 

 frequently to the following spring, it is prudent to lay in a 

 stock of shows, sufficient for the extent of your work ; and, 

 by stacking them up in a dry state, they will not heat, but 

 keep well for nearly a twelvemonth. In parts of the coun- 

 try where there are no flax-mills, and where shows conse- 

 quently cannot be procured, I should recommend moss 

 {Scottice Fog), which is every where to be had, and is the 

 best succedaneum. 



But before this valuable covering is applied, it is expedient, 

 with late planted trees, to go over the entire surface of the 

 pit with a wooden beater, made in the fashion of the beater 

 used by pavers, but greatly larger, ten or twelve inches broad 

 at bottom, and furnished with a double handle, in order that 

 two men may work it. In working the beater, it must be 

 raised as high as three feet or more from the ground, so as 

 to descend with the utmost force on the loose mould of the 

 surface ; which surprisingly promotes consolidation, and, by 

 consequence, the retention of moisture. For all trees, how- 

 ever, this mode of consolidating is not essentially necessary ; 

 neither is it indispensable for such as are planted early ; but 

 with the beech, the oak, the birch, and such others as are 

 most sensitive of drought, it acts as a powerful preservative 

 during the first season : and as it is at the nucleus of the 

 root, immediately under the collar, that the fatal effects of 

 drought are most to be apprehended, so it becomes the 

 more important to provide the best mode of protection, in 

 that quarter. 



It was directed in the last section, that, on the planting 

 being finished, the cover of earth at the stem should be from 



* Note I. 

 32 



