■QUI 



QUICKS, in Agriculture, a name commonly given to the 

 young lets of the white-thorn, which are ufed in planting 

 hedges of that fort. See Quickset /^cJff. 



It is thought to be indifpenfably necefi'ary to the fuccefs 

 of this fort of fets, as liedge plants, in every fituation, that 

 they be well provided with roots and root iibrils of the 

 healthy kind, by Mr. Nichol, who has had much experience 

 upon the fubjed. And that this is belt iecured by taking 

 them from a feminary of rich mould at the end of the firit 

 or fecond year, according to their llrength ; and nurfing 

 them, after that, likcwife in rich earth, for one or two 

 feafons longer at the farthell : hut, in the latter cafe, re- 

 moving them into frelh rows at the end of the tirft year. 

 It is contended, that plants of this age, and thus treated, 

 will outgrow thofe of greater fize in any fort of foil or 

 fituation. This has been repeatedly proved by impartial 

 trials ; and the caufe, it is fuppofed, is obvioufly this, that 

 fmall plants, even by the fame treatment, are riifed with 

 better roots, in proportion to their ftems, than large ones. 

 Therefore in the choice of quicks, regard fhould be had to 

 the roots, not the tops of the plants. Their being nurfed 

 the feafon previous to their being removed for hedging pur- 

 pofes, in rich mellow earth, and being allowed a fufficiency 

 of room, kept clear of weeds and other matters, is the bell 

 mode of preparation, it is imagined, that can pofiibly be 

 adopted. 



There is, however, it is maintained, a double advantage 

 in making ufe of young plants of this nature. They are 

 cheaper and fitter for expofed fituations than thofe of older 

 growths ; not becaufe their tops are lefs bu(hy, which, 

 lince they are to be cut over about half their lengths before 

 being planted, is immaterial, but becaufe they have better 

 proportioned roots to the fize and ilrength of the flems, 

 and of courfe are better fitted to feek paiturage for their 

 common fuitenance and fupport. 



The Hems of the plants, as has been fuggefted above, 

 (liould be cut over about half their lengths, or, in general, 

 about fix inches above the ground mark : an operation 

 which may be performed by the common hedge (hears, a 

 large fharp knife; or by gathering a handful of them evenly, 

 and laying them upon a block or other fimilar body, and 

 chopping them off by means of a hatchet. They fliould 

 always be carefully raifed, and even the fmalleft fibre be re- 

 tained. And at all times, until replanted, the roots (liould 

 be expofed as little as poffible to the air or atmofphere. 

 See Quickset. 



OuicKs is alfo a term fometimcs applied to the weed 

 called couch-grafs, in different places, and which is of a 

 very troublefome nature, not being extirpated out of the 

 land without much difficulty. See Couch. 



QUICKSAND, any fort of fpot or bed of running 

 fand, either near to the furface of the foil, or at any depth 

 below it, which has a fhaking quaggy feel under the foot 

 at certain times or feafons, in confequence of contaniing 

 certain proportions of water. The writer of the work 

 on " I^anded Property" has remarked, that they are for 

 the mod part topical, and in general only temporary, 

 commonly appearing in and after wet feafons only ; clofing 

 and becoming firm when their fupplies of moiflure are ex- 

 haufled by long drought. In thefe cafes the furfaces are 

 free from the depofition of the moory earth of bog plants, 

 which demand a conflant coolnefs, if not a perpetual fupply 

 of moifture, being cauled bv heads or fmall beds of fand or 

 gravel rifing through firmer ftrata to the furface. They 

 are of courfe apt to be fcorched in dry hot feafons. In 

 order to remove them, the fame writer advifes, that the 

 centre of the part which is affetled fhoiild be marked out 



Q u r 



when the feafon is wet, in order that a drain may be cut, 

 when it is dry, of a fullicient depth quite up to the mark, 

 letting it have the ncceliary defcent, and then filling it with 

 fuitable materials to admit of the water bting conveyed off 

 as it is collefted in the fub-foil. When the defeft has been 

 thus removed, where it is fituated in the area of a field, it is 

 a good praftice to cover the part by foil of the fame nature 

 as that of the field where it it fituated, by bringing it from 

 thofe parts which are the mod elevated, as by this means it 

 may be rendered of an uniform quality with the reft, and 

 of courfe have a better appearance, as well as be more ad- 

 vantageous in the growth of crops. 



Dangerous trafts and fpots of this nature are frequently 

 found in marfhy and fandy lands, which are occafionally 

 covered by the tides. And large deep beds or layers of 

 quick or running fand are often met with in digging pits, 

 quarries, mines, and other forts of fhafts, to great depths 

 under the ground, and caufe much trouble and difficulty in 

 getting on with fuch kinds of work, en account of the 

 quantities of water which they contain and let pafs off into 

 them : thus occafioning the neccffity of much difficult 

 drainage, and other inconveniences. See Quarries, Pits, 

 &c. Draiiihig of. 



Quicksand Bay, in Geography, a bay on the weft; coaft 

 of North America. N. lat. 45^ 50'. W. long. 124°. 



QUICKSET, in Agriculture, a term generally applied 

 to the white, or hawthorn plant, the fets or young plants 

 of which are raifed by nurferymen for fale, for the purpofe 

 of planting and forming hedge-fences. The roots of the 

 thorn will, however, anfwer equally well, and in fome cafes 

 much better, as there is a certainty of their being of the 

 right fort, or fuch as have prickles upon them, which does 

 not always happen in ufing the quickfets, as they are liable 

 to difappear when raifed in this method, but which is never 

 the cafe in the root-mode. See pEXCE-TV^orn, and White- 

 Tiorn. 



Young plants of the quickfet kind are befl raifed in fmall 

 portions of ground fet apart for them ; in which, after they 

 are come up from tfTe feed to fome height, they fhould be 

 tranfplanted in lines at narrow diitances, in a ftraight man- 

 ner, with fmall intervals between the rows ; where they are 

 to remain from three to five years or more, being annually 

 well cleaned and moulded up. Some, however, tranfplant 

 them more than once, and think it an advantageous way, 

 but they do well in either method. Well grown plants, 

 with itout clean ftems, are the moft proper for planting out 

 as hedge plants. 



Quickset Hedge, a name given to all forts of hedge- 

 fences which are conltituted of any fort of living plants; 

 but more efpecially of thofe of the white-thorn kind. 

 Hedges of this nature compofe the principal fences of this 

 country. In the drier and better forts of foil, thofe of the 

 thorn kind generally prevail ; but in moft other fituations, 

 thofe of fome other forts of plants, according to the par- 

 ticular nature of the foils and expofnres. The quicks or 

 quickfets of the thorn forts are commonly fuppofed to form 

 the beft hedges, when planted in the raifed bank or dike me- 

 thod. The manner of placing them out in thefe, is different 

 in different cafes, both in refpeft to the form and number 

 of the rows, as well as the diftances of the plants from each 

 other. Some think one regular or irregular row the moil 

 proper, others prefer two ftraight ones ; and fome fuppofe 

 a few inches diftance from plant to plant the moft benefi- 

 cial ; while others think eight or nine inches to be much 

 better. Strong well-grown quickfets are commonly pre- 

 ferred in all cafes. It is remarked in the ElTex Report, by 

 one of the perfons engaged in drawing it up, that in the 

 1 2 parifh 



