General Instructions. 



must do till?, or that tlie trees will never throw out fresh 

 and growing shoots. And if this he the case with all fruit 

 trees, why not with forest trees ? Tiie head is left un- 

 pruned, in the latter case, only because the timber- grower 

 is not so anxious about success as the fruit-grower; and 

 this arises from the period of expected profit being nearer 

 at hand in the latter, than it is in the former. 



63. I have stated, that the objections to autumnal and 

 winter planting, are, that the winds blow the trees about 

 before they can take root, and that the rains batter the ground 

 down, and make it, before summer, as hard as a road. Now, 

 these objections do not a])ply in this case ; for the wind can 

 have no power on a stout and well-fixed stem, which lias 

 no branches of any length, and rains can do no harm here, 

 where the surface of the mound is never to be moved again. 

 In this case, therefore, autumnal planting is best; because 

 the banks of the mounds get solid before the dry weather 

 conies on. You will have more difficulty in getting fine earth 

 about the roots; but that forms so small a part of the work, 

 when the trees are comparatively so few in number, that 

 it is hardly worth mentioning, when opposed to the other 

 weighty considerations. 



64. Though 1 have spoken of Oals only being planted nl 

 this way, trees of any sort may, and almost any sort witii a 

 better chance of success as to the growth. Ash and Beech, in 

 particular, and especially when the bottom soil is of chalk; 

 and Elm, when it is of gravel or sand or sand-stone. If of 

 stiff clay. Oak will do best. Such a plantation does not 

 (llminish the quaniitij of the herbage. As much of it, if not 

 more, will grow on the sides and on the top of the mound, 

 as grew before on the spot where the tree has been planted. 

 And, would it not be better for the Parliament to pass an 



