FOREST-TREES. 209 



which they will no fooner do, than find their account in it, be- 

 come fenfible of the true value of Thorns from their good or ill 

 quality, and encourage thofe nurferymen only who have fkill 

 and honefty enough to bellow a good culture : To private gen- 

 tlemen therefore, and their gardeners, I mean principally to com- 

 niLunicate thefe, the beft inftrudlions I am able to give, for the 

 moft fuccefsful and fpeedy manner of railing the ftouteft, har- 

 dieft, and lafting Thorn hedges. 



The berries, which are mofl commonly gathered too foon, 

 fhould remain on the trees till the end of Odlober, that they be- 

 come of a blackilh colour, and their flefli begin to decay. They 

 are ufually kept in facks after gathering, and buried in heaps 

 on the gardener's receiving them : But this is a material blunder, 

 as, from the thick pulp in which the berries are inclofed, they 

 become extremely hot ; whence fome of the ripeft kernels, not yet 

 hardened, vegetate, and of courfe perifh. Many crops have I 

 known fail from this ignorant pra6lice, when the owners could 

 affign no caufe for their lofs. Let your Haws then, as foon as 

 gathered, be fpread on an airy floor for five or fix weeks, till the 

 feeds are dry and firm j from this plunge them into tubs of 

 water, and diveft them totally of their pulp, by rubbing them 

 between your hands with a little fand ; which being done, 

 fpread them again on the loft three or four days, till quite dry, 

 and mix them thoroughly with fine loofe fandy mould, in quan- 

 tity not lefs than the bulk of the feeds, and lay them in a heap 

 againft a fouth wall, covering them over three or four inches 

 deep, with foil of the fame quality as that with which they arc 

 mix'd ; and in this fituation let them continue till the fecond 

 fpring, as the feeds, tho' fown, will not appear the fiffl year. 



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