THE planter's GUIDE. 



305 



places, less fit for the labours of the husbandman. Parks 

 and pleasui'e-grounds came then to be maintained as 

 objects of luxury ; and in all that were planted for about 

 two centmies, in England, little is to be seen but the 

 upright Oak. Its acorns abounded most, and were most 

 easily gathered, and consequently they supplied the 

 readiest seed for the early planters. 



Even now, when planting is studied as an art, and 

 botanical science is appHed to fix its principles and im- 

 prove its practice, few persons are at the trouble to raise 

 their own nm^sery plants. Hence, with the increase of 

 wealth, and a taste for gardening or rural embellishment 

 in England, the trade of a nurseryman in that country 

 became one of immense extent and importance. In 

 Scotland, also, where the good and the bad in English 

 habits and manners are alike imitated, a predilection has 

 arisen for this charming art ; and the nurseryman, in like 

 manner, has here become the universal caterer for the 

 planter, oh a scale of no small magnitude in proportion to 

 our resources.* 



By the Scottish nurseryman, it appears that acorns 

 are to be had cheapest in the London market, which is 

 for the most part supplied from Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, 

 and other southern counties, where there are very few 

 spreading Oaks. If one of the trade from time to time 

 accidentally procure a few bushels of acorns from Cumber- 

 land or the Highlands, his customers fortunately share 

 in the plants that are produced by them. But the acorns 

 of the upright species, being the larger and plumper of 

 the two, as weU as the cheaper, pass even with those 

 dealers who are truly desirous to have the best seed. It 

 seems on this account, chiefly, that Oaks of the spreading 



* Note VIL 



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