88 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK r. than hills, and in calm places, than exposed, because they shoot straight 

 '^'y^^ and upright. The result of all is, that upon occasion of special timber, 

 there is a very great and considerable difference ; so as some oaken 

 timber proves manifestly weaker, more spungy, and sooner decaying than 

 other. The like may be affirmed of Ash, and other kinds ; and gene 

 rally speaking, the close-grained is the stoutest and most permanent : but 



" after the trencliing, two or three chaldrons of lime be laid on an acre, the land will 

 " produce an excellent crop either of cabbages or turnips, which being eaten off by sheep 

 " in the autumn, will make the land in fine order for all sorts of tree-seeds : but as the 

 " Oak is the sort of tree we cultivate in general, I shall confine myself particularly to our 

 " present method of raising and managing that most valuable species. In the autumn 

 " after the cabbages or turnips are eaten off, the ground will require nothing more than a 

 " common digging. So soon as the acorns fall, after being provided with a good quantity, 

 " we sow them in the following manner : Draw drills with a hoe in the same manner as is 

 " practised for peas, and sow the acorns therein so thick as nearly to touch each other, 

 " and leave the space of one foot between row and row, and between every fifth row 

 " leave the space of two feet for the alleys. While the acorns ai'e in the ground, great 

 " care must be taken to keep them from vermine, which would very often make great 

 "havock amongst the beds, if not timely prevented. Let this caution serve for most 

 " other sorts of tree-seeds. 



" After the acorns are come up, the beds will require only to be kept clean from weeds 

 " till they want thinning ; and as the plants frequently grow more in one wet season, 

 " where the soil is tolerably good, than in two dry ones, where the soil is but indifferent, 

 " the time for doing this is best ascertained by observing when the tops of the rows meet. 

 " Our rule is to thin them then, which we do by taking away one row on each side the 

 " middlemost, which leaves the remaining three rows the same distance apart as the 

 " breadth of the alleys. In taking up these rows we ought to be anxiously careful neither 

 " to injure the roots of the plants removed, nor of those left on each side. The rest of [the 

 " young Oaks being now left in rows at two feet apart, we let them again stand till their 

 " tops meet ; then take up every other row, and leave the rest in rows four feet asunder, 

 " till they arrive to the height of about five feet, which is full as large a size as we ever 

 " wish to plant. In taking up the two last sizes, our method is to dig a trench at the end 

 " of each row full two feet deep, then undermine the plants, and let them fall into the 

 " trench with their roots entire. 



" And here let me observe, that much, very much, of their future success depends on 

 " this point of their being well taken up. I declare that I should form greater hopes from 

 " one hundred plants well taken up and planted, than from ten times that number taken 

 " up and planted in a random manner ; besides, the loss of the plants makes the worst 

 " method the most expensive. 



" But before I leave this account of our method of raising Oaks, I shall just beg leave 

 " to observe, that we are not very particular in the choice of acorns ; in my own opinion 



