QUALITY OF WASTE LAND. 



117 



that is to be met with in an uncultivated state. The 

 fern indicates a considerable depth of vegetable 

 mould * of a quality that may be turned to good 

 account in the production of corn ; and it is merely 

 from the insulated situation of the spots which pro- 

 duce this plant, in our waste land, and their being 

 surrounded by large tracts of barren moor, like 

 small isles in the middle of the ocean, that they 

 have not long since been brought under the domi- 

 nion of the plough. In planting, no opportunity 

 should be lost of turning such patches to account, 

 by filling them with the most valuable kinds of 

 wood. When ferns grow on declivities and pretty 

 elevated spots, we should plant, as the principal crop, 

 the oak, plane, or beech ; when in glens or hollows, 

 not only these three varieties may be planted, but 

 likewise the ash and elm, both of which will, in 

 such situations, attain a very large size ; and if we 

 are studious of variety, we may add the Spanish 

 chesnut. 



* That is, in glens and hollows ; for on elevated spots the 

 fern is frequently found where there is no great depth of ve- 

 getable mould. This plant always denotes, however, that 

 the mould, korvever shallow, is of a good quality, and that the 

 subsoil is of a friendly nature. 



