452 CruicTcshanFs Practical Planter. 



part ; and its second, being a transcript of a part of Sir Henry 

 Steuart's Planter's Guide, speaks for itself. — E. D. G. June 12. 

 1830. 



The above we received from a correspondent, after we had completed the 

 following review. We have omitted E. D. G.'s remarks on Mr. Cruick- 

 shank's misrepresentation of two passages in our Encyclopedia, wishing 

 to bear the responsibility ourselves of what we shall have to state on 

 that subject. 



We leanij from the dedication, that this work is the result 

 of experience chiefly acquired in the service of the Earl of 

 Fife ; and, from the preface, that the author was led to pub- 

 lish, by hearing frequent discussions regarding the cause of 

 the failure of the oak in Scotland. He has produced, on the 

 whole, a useful practical book, more especially for the north 

 of Scotland : but it is one half too large ; and, if the author 

 had confined himself to his own experience, instead of abridg- 

 ing Sir Henry Steuart's method of giving immediate effect to 

 wood, treating of wood in pleasure-grounds or gentlemen's 

 seats, of the property and uses of timber, &c, and, what one 

 would least expect, setting forth claims to originality for what 

 had been recommended a century before, his work would 

 have merited unreserved commendation : but, then, it woidd 

 not have contained more than 150 pages, instead of 440. 

 This is the reigning vice of all books (our own among the 

 rest) ; and the excuse is, the necessity of living and tax-pay- 

 ing. One great fault which we find with the author is, that 

 of not having done justice to those who preceded him on the 

 same subject. Sang's edition of Nicol's Planter's Kalendar, 

 in our opinion by far the best work on practical planting 

 which Scotland has produced, and which contains all that is 

 of most value in the work before us, is only slightly noticed 

 in the note quoted in last page. Reid is not mentioned, nor 

 Gordon, who, in his Planter's, Florist's, and Gardener 's Dic- 

 tionary, Edinburgh, 8vo, 1774, recommends, for large plan- 

 tations, " to plant acorns where they are intended to stand, 

 putting two or three into each hole," &c, and grubbing up 

 the weakest afterwards, in the terms of our author. Not 

 to mention English authors, therefore, there is nothing new, 

 among Scotch authors on planting, in the proposal to raise 

 oak woods from the acorn. That there is nothing new in 

 Scotch practice, we have only to refer, for proof, to the Gene- 

 ral Report of Scotland; to the County Reports, from which that 

 is taken ; or to the art. Wood, in Martyn's Miller's Diction- 

 ary. To be particular, we shall refer to the Gen. Rep. Scot., 



