144 GROWING GOLD. 



of America, the trees grow close together ; 

 therefore, they occupy but few square feet 

 each. At Windsor Castle and Hampton 

 Court there are large orange trees, each of 

 which occupies a box of a square yard of 

 surface, and eighteen or twenty-four inches 

 deep. The few inches of mould necessary 

 for the rapid growth and flowering of the 

 geraniums and other hot-house plants, are 

 also inconsiderable to the quantity of wood, 

 leaves, &c. they make ; indeed, the quantity 

 of vegetable food absorbed from the ground 

 by a succession of good crops of wheat or 

 other grain annually, far exceeds the quantity 

 required to mature a crop of oak trees : it is 

 certain, the largest trees require an increasing 

 supply as long as they continue to thrive, but 

 the trees they overgrow scarcely consume 

 any. The deposit of dead leaves, &c. is 

 commensurate, nay exceeds the quantity of 

 vegetable food drawn from land by timber, 

 so there is no instance of a crop dying from 

 want of nourishment; but, on the contrary, 

 the soil is improved by timber ; therefore, it 



