MISCELLANEOUS. 



189 



ation. I cannot but think, that, under ordinary 

 circumstances, six feet is sufficiently near. 

 This will also assist the advantage of thinning, 

 which is seldom begun early enough. I have 

 already suggested some hints on introducing 

 a considerable proportion of undergrowth in 

 all plantations, which will also materially 

 assist the thinning. I will only observe, that* 

 if the spruce firs, as nurses, are cut off, when 

 about five feet high, they form, by the exten- 

 sion of the lateral branches, excellent cover 

 for game. With regard to exposure, and 

 principally as it concerns the materials for 

 the dress-ground, I will mention a few cir- 

 cumstances which have fallen under my own 

 observation. In the exposed situations in 

 Cornwall, the ilex evidently stands foremost 

 in resisting the sea-air. The pinaster claims 

 the second place ; but, though it resists the 

 blast for some time, it never, as far as I have 

 seen, becomes a tolerably good tree ; whereas 

 the ilex continues to flourish and improve in 

 size and foliage. It should seem that the 

 silver fir stands the sea-breeze ; as some of 

 the largest I ever saw are growing upon the 

 highest point of land at Tregothnan. But 

 not having met with them any where else, 



