OF TRANSPLANTING LAllGE TREES. 331 



Round the oak and beech, the shows ought to re- 

 main without being stirred for two seasons ; but with 

 the other kinds that are less sensitive of drought, 

 this covering may be removed at the end of the first 

 summer after planting, or rather it should be point- 

 ed in with the spade, if the ground be not very light, 

 as the shows will improve a clayey or loamy soil. 

 The space which they occupied should then be kept 

 with the hoe during the next three years. 



For defending the trees from being rubbed 

 upon by sheep. Sir Henry Steuart recommends 

 a fence of larch-stakes, and of a peculiar construc- 

 tion as the cheapest, the most effective, and the 

 least disagreeable in appearance of any that he has 

 tried. " They" (the stakes) " are about three feet 

 three inches long, and six or seven inches in girth 

 at the larger end. They are also flattened at the 

 smaller end to the thickness of about three quarters 

 of an inch, for applying closely to the tree, and point- 

 ed at the larger, for driving them into the ground. 

 The workmen, in setting them up, drive them into 

 the ground, four or five inches out from the stem, and 

 three asunder. The tops being flat, and about 

 three inches broad, they unite in a neat manner 

 round the stem, when pressed to it, and are firmly 



