F O R E S T - T R E E S. 171 



thefe plants, raifed from feeds in pots, and that mud remain fo 

 long in them, being all compreffed in one clufter, from which 

 they cannot afterwards be dilintangled, will never produce fucli 

 luxuriant trees as thefe that from time to time have had their 

 roots properly pruned, and room to extend themfclves in the 

 open ground. Notwithftanding, from what I have faid of 

 this pra6lice with the Ilex, I would not by any means be 

 underftood to reflect on potting many young and tender plants, 

 whofe roots are not fo obftinate, but may be increafed, and, by 

 proper pruning, difpofed in pots as well as otherways ; fo that 

 in many cafes, for particular trees, it is of much importance in 

 their culture. . 



These trees, being eilabliflied in the ground, are (unlike many 

 of the Evergreen tribes) very patient of cutting, fo that, from 

 three or four years old, they ought to be regularly pruned, and 

 brought to a handfome form, v>^hich they will eafily receive. I 

 had lately in my property five of the largeft Evergreen Oaks in 

 Scotland, which Handing near a fouth wall, when about twenty 

 years old, began to darken it, and tho' I would fooner have for- 

 feited the advantage of twenty times as much walling, than hurt 

 thefe trees, I made the experiment of pruning one of them that 

 I had on purpofe let remain almofl in the ftate of nature. This 

 experiment I tried with great fe verity, by cutting away all the 

 large branches from the trunk, and feveral of the principal arms 

 where the tree divided ; from whence I could difcover no mate- 

 rial check in its future growth, but the vv'ounds healed fuddenly. 



After the plants drawn from the lines that were cut below 

 ground have Hood three or four years in the nurfcry, and the 



Y 2 



