REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1901 61 



in beds, as gardeners do. On them the acorns are put, with 

 the sharp point to the earth, and then cover them about an 

 inch deep. The best season for this work is when the acorns 



drop in October After they peep above the ground 



they ought to have some earth sifted upon them, for frost 

 may swell the ground so as to spew up some of the acorns. 



In that case they must be put in again with a finger 



I propose, in the February after they have stood two years, 



that they should be planted out for good and all 



It is my favourite tree. I have planted it everywhere, and 

 I can shew them very thriving on rich, poor, middling, healthy, 

 gravelly, clayey, mossy, spouty, and rocky ground ; nay, even 

 upon dead sand. And it is visible that the oak grows 

 everywhere on my grounds faster than any other tree, some 



of the aquaticks only excepted Large oaks stand 



at a great distance, but I cannot allow that to be a good 

 reason why, in new plantations, oaks should be set at forty, 

 fifty, or sixty feet distance, far less (as some of our modern 

 authors advise) at as many yards ; for though they may see 

 great trees stand so, yet it is more than probable these trees 

 stood in a thicket, and the rest in time have been taken 



away No tree should be allowed to fork ; one 



upright shoot should only be suffered, for when there are 

 two or more the sap that should all run into one is dispersed 

 into many 



Sect. III. of the Elm. 



I shall begin with what has grown long in this country, 

 and is called the Scots elm. There are many huge trees of 



this kind and would have been surprisingly beautiful, 



but they have been allowed to fork, which is a pity, since 

 the timber of it is both strong, of fine colour; very little 

 inferior (in my opinion) to some of the West Indian woods so 



much run after for tables, chairs, chests, and cabinets 



I am not sure if this tree is what in England is called the 

 witch-elm. Another kind, with a leaf like that of the horn- 

 beam, I have heard called the London elm. The long walk 

 at Holland-house, and the incomparable one at Kensington 

 (now hedged) is of what I call the London elm 



