THE planter's GUIDE. 



7 



judiciously. In a country, then, like Britain, where every 

 luxury is purchased at so high a price, it may appear 

 surprising that some certain method of obtaining the im- 

 mediate command of wood should still be a desideratum 

 in its ornamental gardening. 



Few men begin to plant in early life, and what is long 

 deferred, many, for that reason, omit to do altogether. 

 He who inherits or acquires a land estate, is usually 

 desirous to shelter and embellish it. The soldier or the 

 merchant, the statesman or the lawyer, after a life spent 

 in honourable exertion, generally retires to rural scenes, 

 as capable of furnishing the most unmixed enjoyment to 

 the decline of life. To view nature in the rich garb 

 with which taste and ingenuity now invest her, is always 

 pleasing : but, as it is far more delightful to create than to 

 contemplate, so it often happens that finished places, where 

 scarcely any thing more is to be done, are not always 

 sought after by the active and the wealthy. New sites, 

 therefore, are frequently preferred to improved residences, 

 at which the mansion is yet to be built, the farm to 

 be improved, and the park to be laid out and planted. 

 All feel the pleasure of contriving their own accommoda- 

 tions, and imagining and composing their own landscapes ; 

 and they look forward with delight to the time when they 

 may witness the full accomplishment of the latter, by the 

 wood arriving at maturity. By the planter himself, how- 

 ever, a gratification so exquisite can hardly be expected ; 

 and that discouraging idea cannot fail in some degree to 

 cool his ardour and damp his enjoyments. 



To such persons especially, and to all men possessed 

 of land property, the immediate effect of wood must 

 appear a considerable object, if any method can be devised 

 to obtain it with success and certainty. What, then, 

 would such persons say, were they informed that so 



