OF FOREST-TREES. 267 



you bury them, leaving no side-branches. Some slit the end where it CHAP. V. 

 is cut off ; at two years' end is the soonest they will be fit to take up ; ^"^^V^ 

 layers much sooner. 



In planting, omit not the placing of your trees towards their accus- 

 tomed aspect ; and if you have leisure, make the holes the autumn 

 before ; the wider the better : three feet over and two deep is little 

 enough if the ground be any thing stiff, often stirring and turning the 

 mould, and mixing it with better as you may find cause. This done, 

 dig or plough about them, and that as near their stems as you can come 

 without hurting them, and therefore rather use the spade for the first 

 two or three years ; and preserve what you plant steady from the winds 

 and annoyance of cattle, &;c. 



Remove the softest wood to the moistest grounds : 



Divisae arboribus patriae georg. ii. 



Begin to plant forest-trees when the leaves fall after Michaelmas ; 

 you may adventure when they are tarnished and grow yellow ; it is lost 

 time to commence later, and, for the most part of your trees, early 

 planters seldom repent ; for sometimes a tedious bind of frost prevents 

 the whole season. The baldness of a tree is a note of deceit ; for some 

 Oaks, Hornbeam, and most Beeches preserve their dead leaves till new 

 ones push them off. 



Set deeper in the lighter grounds than in the strong, but shallowest 

 in clay : five inches is sufiicient for the driest, and one or two for the 

 moist, provided you establish them against winds. 



Plant forth in warm and moist seasons, the air tranquil and serene, the 

 wind westerly ; but never while it actually freezes or rains, nor in misty 

 weather, for it moulds and infects the roots. 



What you gather and draw out of woods, plant immediately, for 

 their roots are very apt to be mortified, or hardened and withered by 

 the winds and cold air. 



Trees produced from seeds must have the tap-roots abated, (the 

 -W alnut-tree and some others excepted, and yet if planted merely for 

 fruit, some affirm it may be adventured on with success,) and the bruised 

 parts cut away, but sparing the fibrous, for they are the principal feeders ; 

 and those who cleanse them too much are punished for the mistake. 



