90 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. liave excellent timber,) nor in Denmark or Norway, comparable to ours, 

 "-^^^^^ it chiefly affecting a temperate climate ; and where it grows naturally 

 in abundance, it is a promising mark of it. If I were to make choice 

 of the place, or the tree, it should be such as grow in the best cow- 

 pasture, or up-land meadow, where the mould is rich and sweet, (Suffolk 

 affords an admirable instance,) and in such places you may also transplant 



" on, and immediately got into order for a crop of turnips ; two chaldrons of lime being 

 " laid on an acre will be of great service, as it will not only be a means of procuring 

 " a better crop of turnips, but will bind the land afterwards, and make it fall heavy, which 

 *'isof great use when it comes to be planted, as some of the forest-land is so exceedingly 

 " light as to be liable to be blown from the roots of the young trees after planting ; 

 " Therefore we find it to be in the best order for planting about two years after it has been 

 ''ploughed up from pasture, before the turf is too far gone to a state of decay. It will 

 " be necessary to have a part of the turnips eaten off soon in the autumn, in order to get 

 " the ground into readiness for early planting ; for we find the forward planting generally 

 " succeeds the best. 



" After the turnips are eaten off, we plough the ground with a double-furrow trenching 

 " plough made for that purpose, which, drawn by six horses, turns up the ground com- 

 " pletely to the depth of twelve or thirteen inches : This deep ploughing is of great 

 "service to the plants at the first, and also saves a great deal of trouble in making 

 "the holes. After the ploughing is finished, we divide the ground into quarters for 

 " the planting by ridings. It will be a difficult matter to describe the laying out the 



ground for this purpose, especially where there is such a variety of land as we have 

 *'on the forest; much depends on the taste of the person employed in this office. — 

 " Between the hills, towards the outsides of the plantations, we frequently leave the 

 " ridings from sixty to an hundred yai'ds in breadth, and contract them towards the 

 " middle of the woods, to the breadth of ten or twelve y.mls; and on the tops of the 

 " hills where there are plains, we frequently leave lawns of an acre or two, which 

 " makes a pleasing variety. 



"In some of them we plant the Cedar of Libanus at good distances, so as to form 

 " irregular groves ; and this sort of tree seems to thrive to admiration on the forest- 

 " land. On the outsides of the woods, next to the ridings, we plant Evergreens, 

 " as Hollies, Laurels, Yews, Junipers, &c. and these we dispose of in patches, some- 

 " times the several sorts entire, at other times we intermix them for variety ; but not 

 " so as to make a regular screen or edging. Our design in the distribution of these 

 " plants, is to make the outsides of the woods appear as if scalloped with Ever- 

 " greens intermixed sometimes with rare trees, as the Liriodendron Ttdipifera, the Virginian 

 " Tulip-tree, &c. 



" After the ground is laid out into quarters for planting, we assign certain parts to Beech, 

 " Lai'ch, Spanish Chestnuts, &c. These we plant in irregular patches here and there, 

 " throughout the plantations, which, when the trees are in leaf, has the most pleasing 

 " effect, on account of the diversity of shades ; especially in such parts of the forest where 



