1 92 WOODS AND COPSES. [Jan. 



Suppofmg the pits to be made for the recep- 

 tion of the acorns, let a fmall patch, exactly hi 

 the centre between every four pits, have the turf 

 pared off quite thin, by means of the hand-mat- 

 tock ; * and then let this patch be flirred up to a 

 good depth by the fmall end of the mattock : 

 into the hollow thus made, let a feedling, or ra- 

 ther a one-year-nurfed larch be planted. If the 

 ground be not in a proper ftate to receive the 

 larches, the land fo prepared may lye off till it 

 be in a proper condition for receiving the plants. 

 Thefe Larches will have the ftart of the Oaks to 

 be fown in April ; and will, confequently, both 

 fhelter and draw them forward. 



Secondly, if the fituation be bleak, the ground 

 may be planted all over with larches, by the hand- 

 mattock as advifed above, but at not more than 

 three, or three and a half feet apart. After the 

 larches have flood two or three years, the ground 

 may be pitted for the reception of the acorns. In 

 pitting, in the above cafe, however, the diftances 

 cannot poflibly be fo regular as if the land had 

 been bare : the pits may, probably, be from four 

 to feven feet apart, which will anfwer very well. 

 We have here recommended Larches as nurfes, 

 becaufe they are fooner of general ufe than Scots 

 firs : ^the latter, however, are certainly prefer- 

 able 



* Represented in Plate III, fig. 2, 



