[ 70 ] 



thereforie I do not put them all into a perifli-* 

 ing ftate, till I find proper caufe on that ac- 

 count. A little obfervation herein, better 

 than any written rules, v/ill inftrudt the ad-* 

 venturer. The time being come, the largeft 

 of thefe quondam fmall ones are to be de- 

 ftroyed by debarking ; and the fmaller, by 

 the method which will be defcribed in the 

 next Chapter — I think fit, fiirther to inti^ 

 mate, that I ufually take occafion by fom^ 

 means or other, to deftroy moft of them du- 

 ring the vacancy of the aforefaid three years ; 

 as alfo fuch petits efforts of the like kind, 

 which an intervening malevolent feafon may 

 caufe anew to protrude out of the body of 

 an Oak, And that if I find an Oakling has 

 two rival Ihoots at it's top in manner of a 

 fork ; I begin with one of them, negleft- 

 ing for that feafon, one of the lower boughs 

 in it's room. 



Having men ioned the time, the inftru- 

 ment, and the manner by which this ope- 

 ration is to be performed ; I api now about 

 to relate ingenuoufly what difaftrous feafons 

 I have met with in making fuch trials. For 

 as I have concealed nothipg advantageous to 

 t}i9 executi^ii of.theJfc experiments, fo nei- 



