2 TREATISE ON 



Chapter XX. 

 The B I Pv C H TREE. 



The Species a?'e : 



1. The common Birch Tree. 



2. The Poplar-leav'd Birch Tree, 



3. The Canada Birch Tree. 



I H E common Birch may be propagated either from feeds or 

 -1 fuckers taken from the roots of old trees, but the feedhngs 

 make the handfomeft and beft-rooted plants. I fliall therefore 

 iirft diredl their culture in that way, which, though one of the 

 hardieft and mofc common trees our climate produces, (of which 

 it is a native) yet is it feldom fuccefsfully raifed from feeds, 

 which is generally owing to too much covering, and which it 

 v/ill by no means bear, as the plants, when they firft vegetate, 

 are very delicate, and unable to force their way through any 

 conliderable depth of foil ; but by obferving the following fimple 

 pradlice, you will procure them in abundance : 



Th e feeds of the Birch are ripe about the end of September 

 or beginning of October, when, having gathered them in a fair 

 clear day, fpread them thin on a loft floor till dry ; after which, 

 mix them with loofe fand, and keep them in an airy place till the 

 beginning of the following March. The ground for fawhig them, 

 which ought to be frefli and light, having been trenched or dug 

 the preceding autumn, point it over again, making it as ioofe 

 as pofTible, and raking it very fine ; divide it in beds, three and 

 a half feet wide ; fow the feeds, and clap them into the ground 

 with the back of a fpade, without any earth thrown over them. 1 



