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maturity ; in the report it shall be scrupulously at- 

 tended to, to effect which attend to the following 

 system : On this soil and situation, larch fir is by no 

 means a tree for ornament, nor will it ever come to 

 maturity here as a timber tree ; this may be seen by 

 the dwarfish and unthrifty state of the larch fir trees 

 already on the exposed part of this plantation, while 

 every other description of the fir tribe is healthy^ 

 vigorous, and thriving. In thinning, wherever there 

 is a choice, the larch firs should be taken out, and 

 every other tree left in preference to it ; this should 

 be particularly attended to where there are Scotch 

 spruce, and silver firs, as these kinds will thrive and 

 live to a greater age than the larch ; besides, they 

 are much more ornamental, and afford much more 

 shelter in winter ; oak, plane, and ash are the only 

 kinds of hardwood that should be reared ; for this 

 purpose a careful selection of the best and most pro- 

 mising shoots of oak should be made of the natural 

 growths from the stools marked off as standards, and 

 reared up as timber trees, and the healthiest and most 

 thriving of the plane and ash, with a few of the best 

 of the beech, should also be marked off as reserve 

 trees ; a very careful selection of the above kinds 

 should be made, and marked off to stand, the rest cut 

 away, and those should be selected at equal distances, 

 or as near as can be got, at sixteen feet, tree from 

 tree, keeping the outside row next the public road a 

 little closer, say about twelve feet, they having room 

 to branch out on every side, will do closer. In the 

 low part of this clump, where there is nothing but 

 larch fir, and w^here, indeed, both the soil and situa- 

 tion are better adapted for larch than the high parts 

 of it ; here the larch is past its best, and dying, and 



