MODES OF PLANTING. 



141 



tised for the first time, the expedition with which 

 it is performed never fails to astonish him ; and the 

 apparent slovenliness of the operation is as sure to 

 prejudice him against it. There is so little of that 

 care exercised, which he had previously supposed to 

 be necessary, in order to make a tree grow, that he 

 regards the whole process with contempt, and is dis- 

 posed to wonder at the stupidity of those who hope 

 to rear wood by means which, in his estimation, are 

 so unspeakably absurd. The strongest prejudice, 

 however, gives way on observing the effects of the 

 system. I have assisted in planting, according to 

 this plan, upwards of three thousand acres in Aber- 

 deenshire alone, and, in all that extent, I know not 

 of a single instance of failure, where the plants were 

 in a healthy state when put into the ground, of the 

 proper age and varieties, and suitable for the soil 

 where they were planted. 



I am the more anxious to draw attention to this 

 method, as there are many districts where it is yet 

 entirely unknown ; and should these remarks be in- 

 strumental in bringing it into general use, though 

 it were but a few years sooner than it would other- 

 wise be, I shall have the pleasure of regarding them 

 as having promoted, in no small degree, the inte- 

 rests of planting. 



