296 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. means in over light, or rich soil : Fill the holes, therefore, with such 

 -^y"^^ barren earth, if your ground be improper of itself ; and if the clay be too 

 stiff and untractable, with a little sand, removing them with as much 

 earth about the roots as is possible, though the Fir will better endure 

 a naked transplantation than the Pine. If you be necessitated to plant 

 towards the latter end of summer, lay a pretty deal of horse-litter upon 



" seldom known to fail, except where water has reached their roots. I have often 

 " remarked with surprise, that when cattle or deer have broken off the main shoots with 

 " their horns, another branch has taken the lead, and stretched away at such a rate as to 

 " heal up the wound so completely, that in a few years it was with difficulty I coOld 

 "discover the traces of the injury. The amazing growth of the Larix far exceeds 

 " with me all the native as well as foreign trees, bearing the exposure and inclemency of 

 " the season better than any of them ; and of late I have the pleasure to find that they 

 " naturalize themselves by sowing. I wish my experience could assist me in speaking 

 " with as much certainty with regard to the value and usefulness of the timber; but in that 



" I can give but little satisfaction, as my oldest trees are not thirty years from the seed. 



" At Dunkeld I have seen a small summer-house finished with Larix wood ; the plants 

 " came from London in earthen pots, about the year 1 740, rather as a curiosity, than from 

 " any expectation of their excellency. Though full of circular knots, the wood looked 

 " well, and did not seem to gall or Avarp so much as Fir of the same age and seasoning 

 " would have done* It will be necesary to remark, that the heart or centre of large trees 

 " is generally the knottiest part of the trunk, occasioned by the collateral branches, Avhen 

 " young, supporting the stem to stature, which, as the tree advances, die and fall off ; and 

 " this is particularly evident in trees that grow in thickets. The surface soon heals over, 

 " and the body of the ti-ee is annually increased by circular rings of wood. I shall suppose 

 " a tree to be a foot in diameter, when the lower bi-anches die and drop off. In course of 

 " time it acquires four feet in diameter, which gives a surrounding coat, one foot and 

 a half in thickness, of clean timber, the centre remaining knotty. The growth of the 

 Larix, and manner of dropping its branches when close together, very much resembles 

 " the Fir ; so I am confident this fault of knottiness, which seems to be the principal one, 

 " will amend by age. Yours, &c." 



The valuable plantations of Firs now growing upon Crooksbury Heath, in the county 

 of Surrey, prove to what a profitable purpose such kind of land may be applied : The Heath 

 consists of near 3700 acres ; the soil a deep sand, and covered with short heath. In 1 776 

 twelves acres of this Heath were planted with Scotch Firs, four years old, at the distance 

 of four feet. The ground was no ways prepared, but the holes were simply dug, and the 

 plants put in. In 1788 the plants were thinned, being then about the height of fourteen 

 feet, and produced eight pounds per acre. The thinnings were sold for hop-poles, and the 

 branches were made into bavins for burning lime. Mr. Giles, of Farnham, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of this Heath, has for many years used no other poles than Firs for hops, and 

 which he has found to answer full as well as Ash or Alder, Those he has at present, have 



