Crutch shanK 's Practical Planter. 461 



considerable depth of vegetable mould. It does not answer 

 well in very high situations. A deep loam is its favourite 

 soil. The same may be said of the elm. The beech ought 

 never to be planted either in mossy or in wet ground. Any 

 light dry soil will answer for the sycamore [Plane, Sc). The 

 horsechestnut and the lime thrive on the same soil as the 

 ash and elm. The birch is partial to light and dry soils and 

 elevated situations ; but it will grow in the different varieties 

 of clay, and bear a degree of moisture equal to the spruce. 

 Taken altogether, it is the least delicate of British trees. 

 The alder will answer in cold boggy soils, where scarcely any 

 thing else will grow. The willow species, 



" Though proverbial for their love of moisture, will yet, most of them, 

 answer well in land which is not too dry for the elm. Excepting those 

 species which belonged originally to this country, they require a good depth 

 of vegetable mould to bring them to their full growth. A light black earth 

 is most suitable for them, but they may be planted with success in stiff lands 

 of a good quality." (p. 107.) 



All the poplars thrive in the same quality of land as the 

 finer willows. 



In cultivating trees, the exposure or aspect is of little con- 

 sequence ; but the elevation is a matter of importance. 



" The trees which reach nearest to the limit of perpetual snow, and 

 within a few degrees of it, are the Scots pine and the birch, reduced, in 

 their nearest approach to this inhospitable region, to the stature of scragged 

 shrubs. A degree or two farther south than this utmost verge of vegeta- 

 tion, the spruce is found at first in a very diminutive state. After it, still 

 farther south, succeeds the oak, then the beech, and, last of all, the Spanish 

 chestnut. The ash, elm, lime, &c, belong to the zone of the beech. In like 

 manner we are told that, at the foot of the Alps, the chestnut flourishes, the 

 beech continues after the former disappears, and the oak rises to a height 

 where there are found no beeches. After the oak itself has vanished, the 

 pine continues diminishing regularly in size, till it approaches the boundary 

 of perpetual frost." (p. 1 1 0.) 



Chap. V. Directions for ascertaining the Qiiality of waste 

 Land, from the Nature of the wild Plants that grow in it. 

 Grey lichens indicate the most barren kinds of soil ; and such 

 land, planted, will only produce bushes. Coarse bent-grass 

 denotes a stiff poor soil, inclined to wet ; fit for the alder, 

 native willow, and spruce, with a few birches. Dry soil, with 

 thick and healthy heath, and without grey moss or bent-grass, 

 " is capable of producing a good average crop of larch, birch, 

 and Scotch pine. Oaks, likewise, may be planted in it with 

 success ; but it is too poor for the ash, elm, beech, or syca- 

 more." Broom ' is an unequivocal criterion of superior fer- 

 tility. The furze or whin springs up on the best, as well as 

 on the worst, of soils : when dwarfish, the soil is poor ; when 



