30 On forming Plantations on a regular Plan. 



on taking up the posts and rails, I found them sufficiently sound 

 as a fence to raise a second quickset hedge. 



Upon this plan it is obvious that any labourer could effect the 

 necessary thinning without any superintendence ; he could not 

 make a mistake. If a variety of timber be desired, sweet chest- 

 nut may be substituted for every other oak ; both thrive well, 

 generally, on the same soil; or any other timber trees may be 

 planted more suitable for the particular soil, keeping them in 

 the same places assigned in the plan to oak. The underwood 

 may also be varied, by the introduction of oak, wych elm 

 ( £71mus montana), Salix caprea, hazel, &c, all of which form 

 excellent coppice wood ; but they must be introduced in regular 

 order, with reference to future thinning. 



If the ultimate object be a return to pasture, all the ash must 

 be cut off under the ground ; the timber trees will then stand, 

 after the removal of the larch, 36 ft. apart every way. Many 

 will require removal ; and this may be accomplished according 

 to the taste of the proprietor, selecting generally the largest, as 

 the most useful for gate-posts, fencing, &c. 



In very bleak exposed situations, I would recommend planting 

 a Scotch pine, or some other nurse, between the trees, so that 

 the whole plantation should stand, at first, only 3 ft. apart ; and 

 that all these should be cut out at four or five years' growth, 

 when the other trees are well established. If the planter be a 

 game preserver, he may, at intervals of 100 yards, plant a 

 patch of laurel, holly, and yew, and in every tenth or twelfth row 

 of ash substitute spruce, silver, or balm of Gilead firs for every 

 other ash : this will shed a gloom over the plantation, and 

 afford a secure roost for the pheasants on a moonlight night. 



I cannot conclude without cautioning gentlemen against what 

 is misnamed cheap planting; merely loosening the earth with a 

 pickaxe, sticking in the trees at so much per thousand, without 

 any previous preparation or subsequent care. This is wretched 

 economy; a term, by the way, sadly misunderstood, notwith- 

 standing the lucid exposition of it which I recollect to have seen, 

 I think, in the writings of Burke, — " Economy is a distributive 

 virtue. It consists not in saving, but in selection. Great ex- 

 pense may be an essential part of true economy." I am sure 

 this is true as applied to planting. I feel half inclined to submit 

 a few hints upon planting and managing ornamental shrubberies; 

 but I will forbear, for fear of occupying space to the exclusion 

 of much more valuable matter from the pens of others. 



I am, Sir, yours, &c. 

 Cirencester, Oct. 4. 1833. Charles Lawrence. 



We shall be particularly obliged by our correspondent's re- 

 marks on the subject mentioned ; and, indeed, by any article, on 

 any subject suited to our pages, from his pen. — Cond. 



