Cruickshank? s Practical Planter. 



469 



irregular scraggy bushes, he would, with other practitioners, 

 head them down within an inch of the ground. This, in fact, 

 is the practice of almost all those who raise oaks from trans- 

 planted plants ; and, though it costs more than the mode of 

 raising oaks by acorns sown where they are finally to remain, 

 we have not a doubt of its being equally efficacious in every 

 point of view. The shoots produced from the collar must be 

 reduced to one. The proper season for heading down oaks, 

 as, indeed, for heading down or cutting-in all trees, is between 

 the fall of the leaf and the period at which the sap begins to 

 ascend. The nearer the former, the stronger will be the buds. 

 As, in performing this operation with a knife, there is some 

 risk of disturbing the roots, the pruning-shears {Jig. 72. d) 

 may be very advantageously adopted. It is almost ridiculous 

 to hear Mr. Cruickshank talking of the effects of this concen- 

 tration of the sap in producing a vigorous shoot, as if it were 

 not known and practised by every forester and gardener in 

 the island. He says : — 



" Any person who has a young plantation of oaks in a stunted condition, 

 if he doubts the efficacy of the mode of cure here suggested, and is afraid 

 to hazard its consequences on a large scale, may, to avoid all risk, first try 

 its effects on a few plants. The result of the experiment will, I have no 

 doubt, convince him that my assertions are well founded and true." 

 (p. 266.) 



This, indeed, is the sin of the book, an affectation of ori- 

 ginality where there is none ; and a recommendation of well 

 known practices, as if they were peculiar to himself. 



Hide-bound oaks may be improved by 

 slitting the outer bark with a sharp knife, or 

 with the slitter or scarificator recommended 

 in the Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural 

 Society, vol. iv. part ii. p. 395. (jig- 91.) Lime 

 Mr. Cruickshank has found very salutary in 

 reviving; deciduous trees. It is laid on the 

 surface, and dug in ; but a better mode is, to 

 prepare a compost of lime and fresh earth ; 

 to lay the roots of the tree bare, and then 

 place this compost in contact with them. It 

 is evident that this mode of improving trees 

 can only be applied on a limited scale, like 

 Sir Henry Steuart's mixtnre of earth and 

 coal-ashes, and other composts. Query, says Mr. Cruick- 

 shank, 



" Might not those who have already plantations about their mansions, 

 but of a diminutive size, from badness of soil or otherwise, rapidly produce 



H H 3 



