277 



quality, which in a nobleman's or gentleman's park, is a fair 

 supposition, then two, or at most, three single-horse cartloads 

 of compost will sutlice, and the pit is to be worked, to the 

 depth of from eighteen inches to two feet. In that case, I 

 have done the work at the rate of from 8d. to lOd. per pit; 

 and the compost (supposing it to be made with animal 

 manure) may be prepared for 9d, per cartload ; which last is 

 the price usually paid by persons in this part of the country, 

 who prepare it solely for agricultural purposes. 



Should the soil be very thin, or, in an extreme case, 

 should there be no soil at all, but merely barren sand or rock 

 on the spot, and should the owner still resolve to cover it 

 with wood, he must necessarily bring earth for the subsist- 

 ence of his trees. In such a case, every one will admit, that, 

 although a striking improvement of property is thus made, 

 by the superinduction of a new soil, both for grain and grass- 

 crops, yet so entire an alteration of the nature of the ground 

 cannot be fairly chargeable to the pla?itmg of it, whether 

 with old trees or young. As may be seen at pp. 173, 174, 

 such improvements are extremely practicable, and have been 

 often made at this place, at no very extravagant cost : but 

 still they are agricultural, and make an adequate return in 

 pasture for the money laid out. 



The above may serve to convey a fair idea of the expense 

 of preparation, when the pits are to be made a twelvemonth 

 beforehand, and the trees and underwood removed after that 

 interval. Should the planter be in haste to obtain the effect 

 required, and be resolved both to prepare and to plant during 

 the same season, then the expense of the compost would be 

 the same as that already stated, but the preparation of the 

 pits would amount to from Is., to Is. 3d. each. 



In trenching the entire ground for groups and larger 

 masses of park-wood, which is strongly recommended to be 

 done, at pp. 177 — 179, for reasons both agricultural and 

 arboricultural, the trenching or double-digging may be exe- 



