316 



But at the end of the three months, he was reluctantly forced to 

 aekuowledge, that, in the existing circumstances, the analogy was not a 

 correct one, and three persons not being to be found of adequate informa- 

 tion, he paid his money accordingly. During the course of the investi- 

 gation, more than twenty planters aspired to the honours of the competi- 

 tion, all confident that they could easily gain him his bet. But, when it 

 came to the trial, the result was, that one person only, in the county of 

 , was able to fulfil the prescribed conditions ! 



It has been remarked above, that so little are country gentlemen, or 

 their gardeners, acquainted with either the planting, or the management of 

 Woods, that it is truly " the blind leading the blind," in this important 

 department of rural economy ; and I cannot refrain from telling another 

 anecdote, on the subject of soils, of which the facts came within my own 

 knowledge. 



\ few months since, I was applied to by a friend, to give him some 

 advice respecting his trees. Wood, he said, grew so badly about his 

 place, that, after the experience of forty years, he was almost discour- 

 aged from the cultivation of it. On visiting the spot, I perceived that 

 his representation was but too well founded. As he felt a great parti- 

 ality to limes and sycamores, he had transplanted those two sorts of 

 trees all over liis park, of eight and ten feet high, many years before, 

 rrnd that the work was executed in the best manner, he said, it was im- 

 possible to doubt, as it was done under the direction of his own gardener, 

 who had extensive experience, and knoioledge of wood. But the gar- 

 dener and himself both assured me, that the soil and climate were 

 " altogether unfavorable to wood," however either might suit husbandry 

 or green crops. In proof of which, they turned my attention to the 

 trees, which, indeed, appear stunted and unhealthy, with leaves of a 

 yellowish-green colour, and growing about an inch, or little more, in a 

 season. 



On examining the soil, the cause of my friend's want of success was 

 at once apparent. It consisted of a rich, but thin clay, naturally inclin- 

 ing to damp in the substratum, from the retention of moisture. My 

 advice to him was very short : " Grub up your limes and sycamores, 

 which you should never have planted, and which, unless by a miracle, 

 could never grow to timber, in such a soil. Replace them with oak and 

 beech, of at least five-and-twenty feet high, and of two and three feet in 

 pirtli, in order that they may be ab1<^ to withstand the elements, and, with- 

 in a few years you will have thriving wood. But let oak be the staple, 

 whether of your plantations or your park-wood, with such a soil." 



To get advice is one thing, to follow it is another. I know not wheth- 



