OF FOREST-TREES. 



81 



grazing might be improved for the feeding of deer and cattle under them CHAP, 

 (for such was the old Saltus) benignly visited with the gleams of the sun, 

 and adorned with the distant landscapes appearing through the glades and 

 frequent valleys, nothing could be more ravishing-. We might also sprinkle 

 fruit-trees amongst them for cider, and many singular uses, and should 

 find such goodly plantations the boast of our rangers, and forests infinitely 



may so cut the bottom of the root that the wound may be downwards ; next, take off all 

 bruised and broken parts of the I'oot ; and having holes prepared, in the figure of a circle, 

 three feet in diameter and a foot and a half deep, (the sward being worked and chopped 

 small in the bottom of the holes, and some mould laid to cover it,) plant the trees in such a 

 manner that the top of the roots may be nearly level with the surface of the ground. Let 

 the finest of the mould which was under the turf, be preserved to lap the root in ; and 

 after the earth has regularly filled the hole, let it be pressed down with the foot, to settle it 

 properly to the root A little litter should be laid over the root, to prevent the wind and 

 sun from drying the mould, and thereby retarding the growth of the tree, especially if the 

 planting be deferred till the spring. The plants which are of a larger size, should be pro- 

 perly staked to secure them from the violence of the winds ; or, if they are planted where 

 cattle or deer can come, they should be properly hurdled. After this, they will require no 

 further care. 



Oaks will not aspire to such height, or fineness of trunk, when planted in these places, 

 as in woods ; but they will form most beautiful heads, and their shade will be extensive 

 and large : 



— — — ' Behold yon Oak, 



How stern he frowns, and with his broad brown arms 



Chills the pale plain beneath him. mason. 



The Oak will grow and thrive upon almost any soil, provided the trees be properly 

 planted, though we cannot suppose that their growth will be equal in all places. A rich 

 deep loamy earth is what Oaks most delight in, though they will grow exceedingly well 

 in clays of all kinds and on sandy soils, in which last the finest grained timber is produced. 

 Many fine trees of this texture may now be seen growing upon Nottingham forest, parti- 

 cularly at Welbeck. 



Having thus given a minute detail of the different methods of raising an Oak wood from 

 the Acorn, the Seed-bed, and the Nursery, we are now arrived at a very important and in- 

 teresting question : which makes the best Timber? Mr. Evelyn decides for sowing: and 

 if a careful observer will look into the woods that have been sown, and at the same time 

 examine such as have been planted, he will not hesitate a moment to declare in favour of 

 the excellent Author of this Treatise. The extensive plantations that have been carried 

 on for these many years past, have been made more with a view to Shade, Shelter, and 

 Ornament, than to the propagation of Timber ; and, in order to obtain these ends in the 

 most expeditious manner, the owners have in general followed a mistaken notion, and 

 Volume I. S 



