THE planter's GdlDE. 



247 



do not decidedly pronounce as to its backwardness till 

 the fifth or sixth, when, if it be a fine subject, we begin to 

 look round for a remedy. At this juncture, the evil or 

 evils in question are in a very great degree alleviated, by 

 the efibrts made by the plants themselves to regain their 

 lost strength. Hence, the stimulus of the compost above 

 recommended, must now come at a very opportune period. 

 Coal or wood ashes, or peat-compost, as already said, soot, 

 the sweepings of houses, and other miscellaneous com- 

 pounds, intimately mixed with soil in a completely friable 

 state, are peculiarly fitted for this purpose : and, in fact, 

 nothing less than such a stimulus is sufficient to compen- 

 sate for the want of heat, and to render vegetation once 

 more active, counteracted as it must be by the severity of 

 the process of removal itself, and by the eflPects of the 

 exposure in which the tree has been placed. The great 

 object, in the application of all manure, is to furnish as 

 much soluble matter as possible to the roots of plants, and 

 that in a slow and gradual manner, in order that it may 

 be entirely consumed in forming their sap and various 

 organised parts. 



This short statement may perhaps in some measure 

 account for the backward condition of trees standing in 

 the open park, and likewise for the success of the remedy 

 that has been applied to them. In regard to the superior 

 advantage of the method of laying the compost on the 

 surface, compared with that of digging in any manure 

 among the roots, it is too obvious to require further illus- 

 tration. 



There is only one other point in the department of 

 afterwork which it may be worth while to touch upon, in 

 as far as open dispositions of wood are concerned, and 

 that is, the setting straight after a certain period. There 

 is nothing that contributes more to the beauty of park 



