NMiSIKY AND I'LANIINU. 



65 



acres in oxtcnl, aiul stocked willi cvoiy species of tree <^enci ally 

 cultivated with a view to j)r()ilt or utility in this couutiy. The 

 extensive and tln-ivin_i»- plantations of the Duke ol* Athol, (he 

 Earl ot'Braedalhane, and other proprietors, who have planted 

 on the most ruo«^ed and barren hills, bear suilicient eviilence of 

 the truth of this assertion, 'I'hose who have extolUnl the su- 

 periority of expensive plantin";, are, for (lie most |)ai ( , plan(ei s 

 in miniature, who, in plantiuL* hall'-a-dD/en acres, have lavished 

 away a few poinids ; anil who, like a C("r(ain ^reat horticulturist 

 of the present day, have treated with coii(cnip( (lieuiore rational 

 and substantial niethods which have been sanctioned by I'X- 

 ])erience, and crowned with success, and which they have 

 vainly tried to turn into ridicule. IMautiiii;" must always be con- 

 sidered as an appropriation of a certain ca|)ital laid out by the 

 owner of land, with a view to ultimate profit and rej)ayment. 

 With this view, such land oidy should Ix; planted (ha( is in- 

 caj^able of producing a more certain and <^reater produce. As 

 it is no inconsiderable sum that is required to plant extensively, 

 we ougiit to stiuly the most economical mode of proceeding; and 

 no one who attempts to plant to a f^reat extent will ever, we 

 think, attempt trenchin^^ and manuring liis n;round. 



As to final situation, the ash deserves a t^ood soil, and not to 

 be planted in (juaf^mires, or on ])lcak bancn sides of hills, as 

 we have freijuently observed, for in such situations the tind)er 

 never can, nor will be ^^ootl. It is said to impoverish the soil 

 very nuich, and therelbre (o be unlit for hednc-row tiud)er ; 

 it were to be wished (hat the same i'ault coidd be discovered in 

 every other tind)er-tree planted in similar situations, (or then 

 we mi<;ht entertain sojue hope of beiii;^- relieveil from seeing, 

 mile after mile for a long jounu^y, those poor nnitilated, dis- 

 torted looking things called hedge-row timber-trees, by which 

 many parts of tlu; kingdom are so very conspicuously dis- 

 figured. 



'J'he valuable uses to which the ash is ap)>lied are so numer- 

 ous as to be with difficulty ernmierated. It may be Jiotcd, 

 however," says a writer on this sid)ject, *• that tlie ash possesses 

 a very singular properly, namely, that of being in ])erfectioii 

 even in infancy, no other tree becoming so soon useful. A pole 

 three inches in diameter, is as valuable and durable for any 



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