168 



serymen,) 1 have practised with the greatest sue* 

 cess, and to great advantage, for these some years 

 back. The method is by layering down on all sides 

 where there is blank ground, some of the young 

 shoots from the old stools, and leading them out, 

 year after year, till they fill up almost any quantity 

 of blank ground, and every year the layer will make 

 a push of two, three and sometimes four feet in one 

 season ; being more than an oak will do from the 

 plant in five years, and far less risk of their misgiv- 

 ing than from the plant. The method of planting 

 the level part of this, or of any other field, is by run- 

 ning them in angular lines from the way the trees 

 are most exposed to the weather, (such as from the 

 S. W.) as for a standing plantation. When planted 

 in this way, the trees can be thinned out to great ad- 

 vantage, in a triangular form, so as never to lash each 

 other with the wind, and at the same time where 

 shelter is required for the adjoining fields, which is 

 much wanted on this estate ; as in this way, by pay- 

 ing proper attention to the thinning, there is no way 

 of looking into the plantation, but trees strike the 

 eye, without seeing through it ; nor are the trees, 

 when thinned out, so apt to be blown down. This 

 way of planting is also of equal advantage in a natural 

 wood, as when the stools fail in this triangular form, 

 it is much easier getting the stools to occupy new 

 ground by layering, and also keeping a proper crop 

 upon the ground for time coming. This method of 

 triangular planting will be attended with still greater 

 advantage in narrow stripes, and belts of planting 

 where they are intended chiefly for ornament and 

 shelter, as in this case the trees will stand the weather 

 far better, and afford more shelter. 



