( 73 ) 



" pend the health and growth of his plants; and con- 

 " fequently the beauty of his plantations." 



In China, as in Europe, the ufual times of planting are 

 the autumn and the fpring; fome things anfwering beft 

 when planted in the firft, and fome in the lafi: of thefe 

 feafons. Their Gardeners avoid planting, whenever the 

 grounds are fo moift as to endanger the rotting of the 

 roots; or when the frofts are fo near as to pinch the 

 plants, before they have recovered the fliock of trans- 

 plantation; or when the earth and air are too dry to 

 afford nurture to them ; or when the weather is fo tern- 

 peftuous as to fhake or overturn them, whilft loofe and 

 unrooted in the ground. 



They obferve, that the perfe&ion of trees for Orna- 

 mental Gardening, confifts in their fize; in the beauty 

 and variety of their forms ; in the colour and fmoothnefs 

 of their bark; in the quantity, fhape, and rich verdure 

 of their foliage; in its early appearance in the fpring, and 

 long duration in the autumn; in the quicknefs of their 



growth; 

 x 



