346 MEANS OF SPEEDY WOODING 



has been drawn up weak, or stunted by improper 

 usage in the nursery, will at the first outset fall se- 

 veral years growth behind another, that has been 

 put into the ground at the same time, but in a 

 sound condition. In order to ensure the possession 

 of this indispensable qualification, it will be neces- 

 sary to be at somewhat greater expense than is 

 usual in common planting. The plants ought not 

 to be taken at random as they grow in the nursery 

 lines, but the best and healthiest ones selected from 

 these lines. Or, if any inconvenience should arise 

 in following this plan, from the nurseryman being 

 unwilling to pick his plants, or from his charging 

 an extravagant price as the terms of such a bargain, 

 the better way for the buyer will be to purchase 

 them, as is commonly done, good and bad as they 

 stand, and to pick them afterwards for himself 

 making choice only of the finest plants. The prin- 

 ciple on which the selection ought to proceed, should 

 be to reject all but such plants as are in a perfect- 

 ly sound and healthy state. The signs of health 

 are, that the bark be perfectly fresh, unpeeled and 

 unruffled ; that none of the branches, even the 

 smallest of them, be decayed, withered or dead at 

 the points ; that the girth be in due proportion to 

 the height, and that the roots be numerous and well 



