OF FOREST-TREES. 



195 



the men at any time reproached then" wives for their wanton expensiveness CHAP.XII. 

 in pearl and other rich trifles, they were wont to retort, and turn the """^""y^^ 

 tables upon their husbands *. The knot of the timber was the most 

 esteemed, and is said to be much resembled by the Female Cypress : — 

 We have now, I am almost persuaded, as beautiful planks of some 

 Walnut-trees near the root ; and of Yew, Ivy, Rose-wood, Ash, Thorn, 



The Maple, in the Linnaean System, is of the class and order Polygamia Monoecia. 



I have already observed that the common Maple and Sycamore are best raised from 

 seed ; but as the seeds of the foreign kinds do not ripen in this country, they should be 

 procured from abroad. — In a cool and shady part of the seminary let beds of fine mould 

 be marked out, about four feet in breadth, and with pi-oper alleys. Upon these let the 

 foreign seeds be regularly sown, sifting over them about half an inch of the finest mould. 

 When the plants come up, they should be kept clean from weeds, and frequently watered ; 

 and this work must be duly attended to all summer. The spring following, the strongest 

 may be drawn out, and planted in the nursery, in rows two feet asunder, and at the 

 distance of a foot from each other in the rows, leaving the others in the seminary to gain 

 sti'ength. The succeeding spring they must receive the same culture ; and they may re- 

 main in the nursery, with no other trouble than keeping the ground clean from weeds 

 in the summer, digging between the rows in the winter, and taking off all strong and 

 irregular side-shoots, till they are planted out for good. 



Notwithstanding these are the general laws of raising all the species of Maple from 

 foreign seeds, the culture varies with respect to the Scarlet-flowering kind, when the seeds 

 are gathered at home. This species brings its seeds to maturity the beginning of June, in 

 our gardens. They should be then gathered, and after having lain a few days to harden, 

 they should be sown in beds of the finest mould, and covered only a quarter of an inch 

 deep. The beds should be hooped, and covered with mats in scorching weather; but 

 when it is rainy and cloudy, they should always be uncovered. In about a month or six 

 weeks, many of the plants will appear ; but the far greater part will not come up till the 

 following spring. When the summer-plants first show themselves, they should hai'dly ever 

 feel the full beams of the sun. The beds must be constantly covered with the mats in the 

 day-time, unless cloudy and rainy weather happens, when they should always be un- 

 covered ; during the night no mats must be put over the plants, that they may have all 

 the benefit of the refreshing dews, air, and cooling showers. When these latter do not 

 fall, watering must be duly attended to ; and this is all the trouble they will require for 

 the first summer in the seed-bed. The summer following, they may be exposed to all 



• The common expression of turning the tables upon a person, seems to have originated from what Pliny 

 has remarked upon the Citron, and Bruscum of the Maple : " Confines ei Mauri, quibus plurima arbor Citri, 

 et mensarum insania, quas feminae viris contra Margaritas regerunt." This extravagance in Tables is 

 ridiculed by many of the Poets : 



Extremoque epulas mensasque petivimis orbe. ircAN. 



lis 



