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Tin: riiAcncAL gakdicni r. 



sandy nature. It attains a great age, and is, in that respect, 

 perhaps, next to the oak and yew in point of longevity. Sang 

 instances the Prior-Letham Planer a tree of some notoriety, 

 being one of the two trees discovered in Scotland by Dr. John- 

 son in his Northern Tour. This tree has attained the amazing 

 bulk of twenty-four feet eight inches in circumference at the 

 surface of the ground, and at the parting of the branches nine- 

 teen feet. The trunk is twelve feet high, and at that height 

 divides into ten large branches, each ecjual to a considerable 

 sized tree. It is mentioned in a lease that was granted of these 

 grounds nearly two hundred years ago, and is there called 

 " the large Plane," and cannot probably be less than five 

 hundred years old. The plane succeeds in all ordinary soils 

 and situations, and is, with the elder and larch, the best deci- 

 duous nurse plant we have. It is well calculated for a hedge- 

 row tree, as it alibrds more shelter when grown up than any 

 other tree. It is a quick grower, and will endure the sea 

 breeze better than any other tree, nor is it liable to grow to 

 one side when exposed to winds which blow chiefly in one 

 direction ; should it be too closely pressed, and become mis- 

 shapen by other trees or obstructions, it will, very soon after 

 the removal of the obstruction, assume its own regular form, 

 and become equally poised. 



The seeds or keys ripen in September, and are easily pro- 

 cured, but should not be allowed to become too ripe, as, in that 

 state, they are liable to l)e shaken down by the wind. They 

 should be collected when perfectly dry, and laid by in a dry airy 

 loft, and freiiuently turned over during the winter to prevent 

 mouldiness or decay. They should be sown in March or April, 

 in light mellow ground ; and as the foliage, even of tlie young 

 plants, is pretty large, they ought not to be sown too thick. 

 Having been one season in the seed-bed, they are in a fit state 

 for transplanting into nursery lines, and when nursed there for 

 two seasons, may be planted out for good. \\ hen plants of a 

 larger size are required than those which have been transplanted 

 two years, they should, in that case, be taken up at the end of 

 the second year, and replanted in lines, allowing from one-third 

 to one-half more room between the lines and plants. Syca- 

 mores succeed when planted of a considerable size and age, but 



