498 On raising Plantations near the Sea. 



taken from the nursery, the better ; and its roots, even during the 

 interval, should be prevented from being exposed to the air; 

 great care ought also to be taken, when the plants are drawn 

 from the nui'sery bed, to preserve all their fibres entire: this 

 part of the business ought to be strictly attended to, as much of 

 the desired success depends upon it. Whatever failures take 

 place ought to be made good, the following planting season, with 

 plants which have been twice transplanted, with which, under 

 any circumstances, fewer failures occur, than with those which 

 have been only once transplanted. Transplanting from the seed- 

 bed to the plantation is by no means to be recommended ; but, if 

 done, I should advise that two or three plants be clumped toge- 

 ther, as there is a danger of many failures in this mode of pro- 

 cedure : however, if it should be adopted, it will be necessary, in 

 a year or two, to take away all the plants but one in each clump, 

 leaving that which is most promising. 



For all plantations near the coast, designed principally for 

 ornament, I most decidedly recommend a line of the Quercus 

 / x lex, or evergreen oak, to be planted on the outside (IX. 543.), 

 at the same time with the pinasters. Ilexes are in the nurseries 

 usually sown in pots, or they are transplanted into pots when 

 a year old, and are in the course of two or three years fit to 

 remove to the plantation with safety ; if drawn from the nursery 

 bed in the common way, even planted under the most favourable 

 circumstances, success is very uncertain. Should planting in 

 autumn be adopted for the pinasters, I should in that case 

 recommend that the ilexes be turned out of their pots in the 

 following spring. On transplanting ilexes into pots from the 

 seed-bed, it may be well to mention that they will derive great 

 advantage from being placed in a cold frame for a few weeks, 

 and kept close, and shaded when necessary. The coarse lands 

 in some parts of the west of England, and particularly in Corn- 

 wall, have sometimes a stratum of spar, consisting of small 

 stones, lying on the surface, but more generally a few inches be- 

 low it, the thickness of which varies from 2 in. to 3 in. or 4 in. 

 Should this be the case where planting is intended, ploughing 

 or breaking up the ground will prove of essential service to the 

 future progress of the plantation. 



The above hints are grounded upon the observations and ex- 

 perience of more than twenty years on the coasts of Devon and 

 Cornwall ; and may, I think, be fully recommended to the con- 

 sideration of those who are desirous to raise plantations on the 

 coast in that part of the kingdom. Perhaps some of your readers 

 may be able to send you a few hints as to the suitableness of the 

 pinaster, for the above purpose, upon other parts of the coast. 



Shortgrove, Essex, November, 1833. 



