per acre < 



Steuarfs Planter's Guide 119 



whether of shrubbery or of forest trees, we always trenched 

 the ground 22 in. deep. In field planting, that is, laying down 

 permanent woods in fields or masses of from 2 to 20 acres, 

 our plan was this : — Double or trench plough the land in 

 the autumn, and again early in spring, as soon as dry enough ; 

 clear from root weeds, by harrowing and picking; sow the 

 seeds on the surface, and plough in ; into 2-'bout lands, if the 

 ground be thin and wet ; into 8-'bout, if moderately so ; and 

 into 16-'bout lands, if the soil be dry. When the seeds were 

 ploughed in, and the ground harrowed down, we next planted 

 the nurses, viz. Scotch pine, larch, and stone pine, all over 

 the surface, at the distance of 10 ft. apart, and at the same time 

 dibbed in Spanish chestnuts. The proportions and kinds of 

 seeds were, — 



' 1 bushel acorns, !> 



1 bushel ash-keys, > mixed and sowed together, broad cast, 

 i bushel beech mast, 3 

 1 lb. Scotch pine, -\ 



1 ]]jj' fm.2e' f ™ixed and sowed together. 



I lb. common broom, j 



i peck Spanish chestnuts, dibbed in. 



If any patches of the ground were naturally wet, Wey- 

 mouth pines, birch, alder, and willow truncheons, were put in 

 for nurses. Woods planted in this way rise rapidly into 

 beauty and value. The woodman goes over regularly every 

 year, lopping or cutting away the nurses, directing the supe- 

 riors, and cropping the furze or broom which may be over- 

 powering the seedlings. 



The superior woodlands on the estate of Chalfont House 

 show the effects of this method of establishing profitable plant- 

 ations. They are at once an annual source of income, and a 

 perpetual nursery for supplying young trees for transplant- 

 ation. It was first practised by Charles Churchill, Esq., a 

 former proprietor of the estate, who, with some assistance from 

 Brown, and, I think, Richmond, laid out and planted the 

 park, which remains a monument of his fine taste, his abilities 

 as an ornamental, and his skill as a profitable, planter. 



Mr. Hibbert, at considerable expense, carried forward Mr. 

 Churchill's design, as well upon the old as upon the new 

 portions of territory. The picturesque old castellated mansion, 

 partaking of both Saxon and Gothic architecture, received a 

 new contour and facade from Nash, while the accompaniments, 

 of all which I directed the execution, were marked by Rep- 

 ton. Brown's canal-looking lake, too similarly extended by 

 Lapidge, still remains ; but it is here tolerable, because the 

 character of the place is unmixed beauty. The ri^er-damined 



r * 



