118 



ON ASCERTAINING THE 



On the banks of rivulets where the kinds of grass 

 deemed best for pasturage are abundant^ the land 

 may be considered as extremely well adapted for 

 the ash and elm. In such situations likewise, the 

 oak will grow to a large size, as well as the poplars 

 and finer species of willows, if they are planted 

 near the brink of the stream. 



The above remarks relate chiefly to dry soils, as 

 most of the plants enumerated, with the exception 

 of the heath and benty grass, are found in such soils 

 only. It is scarcely necessary to have recourse to 

 a similar mode of ascertaining the quality of wet 

 land. There are few of our wastes that require 

 draining, which will answer with the more delicate 

 species of aquatic trees, in which class may be com- 

 prehended the poplars and foreign species of wil- 

 lows. These will prosper on the strips of meadows, 

 that are sometimes to be met with on the banks of 

 our solitary streams, but they will come to nothing 

 in a peat moss or a quagmire, resting on a bottom 

 of till. Wherever we find a great quantity of mois- 

 ture, therefore, we should plant those kinds of 

 aquatic trees, and those only, which are either na- 

 tives of the country, or, having been introduced 

 from northern climates, have been long naturalized 

 in it. For bogs and marshes, which it is impracti- 



