358 



Whoever was the author of this system of pmning, which I have 

 ventured to name the Terafinai., is entitled to great praise ; and I am 

 inclined to think, that, if it ever liave been known in horticulture, it has 

 not been applied to woods, till of late years, and even now, that it is 

 not commonly so applied. The Encyclopedias of Gardening and Agri- 

 culture, in which every thing useful and scientific is generally to be 

 found, but very obscurely allude to such an operation. 



There is a meritorious nurseryman in this kingdom, to whom I was, 

 some time since, indebted for the knowledge of this system, and who 

 has practised it, as he states to me, for nearly thirty years, without hav- 

 ing borrowed it from any one. It was first suggested to him, as it appears, 

 by his own reflection, and has since been confirmed, by considerable ex- 

 perience, and most unifonn success. He was surprised when I informed 

 him, that the principle was known and acted on, in some parts of England, 

 with great effect. This person, who is not less unassuming than he is 

 ingenious, is possessed of valuable materials for a treatise on the sub- 

 ject; by which, besides laying do^vn specific rules for the art under 

 different circumstances, directions might be given, for raising and ma- 

 naging plantations under this system. According to the author's opin- 

 ion, the pruning should be practised as early as the third year, after the 

 plantations are made, and be continued till the eighteenth or twentieth. 

 He has likewise constructed tables, showing the numbers and distances, 

 according to which the trees should be planted on an acre of ground, 

 and the comparative results of the ordinary, and of the terminal 

 method. In the present low state of our arboricultural knowledge, I 

 am of opinion, that a present more acceptable than such a treatise could 

 not be made to the British public. 



I request forgiveness of the reader for this long discussion, which 

 has altogether transcended the bounds of a note, and swelled to a sort 

 of disquisition. But, independently of my own observations on the 

 above interesting subject, I was desirous to give as much publicity as 

 possible to Mr. Loudon's ingenious speculations, and to the Terminal 

 Method of Pruning, which promises to be productive of such general 

 utility. 



Note VI. Page 133. 



It gives me great satisfaction to find, that the opinions here held, re- 

 specting the character of the ramification on the warmer and the colder 

 sides of trees, are supported by those of a scientific planter, and inge- 

 nious observer, tlie late Lord Meadowbank, whose important discovery 



