O R E S T - T K E E S. 169 



Tiaiit growths in any tolerable foil they affe6l. After {landing 

 'two years, carefully draw out, fo as not to injure what remains, 

 the plants that are too thick, leaving them from a foot to fifteen - 

 or fixteen inches diflant. In the following fpring, the hedges 

 will require fomc corre6lion : At this time go over them, firfl 

 pruning off any fpreading or crofs-hanging branches near their 

 tops, and afterwards let their fides be clip'd to the bottom with 

 {hears ; but this muft be cautioufly done at firfl, and not too 

 clofe to their bodies ; after which, by digging the borders for a few 

 years, and {liearing the plants annually, obferving always to 

 keep them light and thin in the tops, there is no plant I know 

 will fo foon make warm and lofty hedges, to the height of forty 

 or fifty feet, or fo much improve a cold climate, and promote 

 the growth of other trees. 



If you intend large plantations of thefe trees, either by theni- 

 ■felves, or mix'd with others, cultivate the ground well by labour^ 

 and put four or five acorns in patches together, at fuch diftan- 

 ces as you intend the plants fliould {land. The fecond April af- 

 ter, draw all but the moft thriving one and the third, you ma.f 

 begin pruning off any ill-placed branches, and part of the others 

 where too thick. 



Th e plants of two years old you have drawn, having fliorten- 

 cd their roots, and plunged them in palp for fome hours, may be 

 committed to a fliady border in the nurfery, and laid in lines 

 two feet afunder, where, in a kindly feafon, and by giving them 

 frequent gentle waterings, fome of them will fucceed, and in this 

 fituation they may remain three years. 



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