AGE OF PLANTS. 



135 



land of a quality perfectly congenial to the nature 

 of the trees. 



Here it may be expected that some reasons 

 should be assigned why a result so different ensues 

 in the case of the species in question, from what has 

 been stated as taking place when firs are concerned. 



But this mystery I confess myself unable to clear 

 up. The difficulty is rendered the more hard of so- 

 lution, from the fact, that all the deciduous trees 

 above mentioned, with the exception of the oak, 

 which is averse to removal under any circumstan- 

 ces, may be transplanted in thousands and tens of 

 thousands in the nursery, without almost a single 

 failure, at the same age at which, if they are trans- 

 ported to waste knd, three-fourths of them will pe- 

 rish. The knowledge of the fact, however unable 

 though we be to account for it, is sufficient to di- 

 rect us in practice ; and plainly warns us, in form- 

 ing plantations of ash, elm, planetree, and beech, to 

 make use of such plants only as have stood some 

 time (two years at the least), in nursery lines, after 

 having been removed from the seed-bed. 



Willows, poplars, and other trees which are pro- 

 pagated by layers and cuttings, may be removed 

 from the nursery as soon as they are sufficiently 



