Q^U E 
but afterward it may be done with the hoe-plough » 
for as the rows are four feet afunder, there will be 
room enough for this plough .to work *, and as this 
will ftir and loofen the ground, it will be of great ter- 
vice to the plants ; but there will require a little hand- 
labour whefe the plough is ufed, in order to deftroy 
the weeds, which will come up in the rows between 
the plants •, for thefe will be out of the reach of the 
plough, and if they are not deftroy ed, they will foon 
overgrow and bear down the young plants. 
After the plants have grown two years, it will be pro- 
per to draw out fpme of them, where they grow too 
clofe ^ but in the doing of this, great care ftiould be 
had. not to injure the roots of thofe left •, for as the 
plants which are drawn out are only fit for planta- 
tions defigned for pleafure, fo thefe ftiould not be fo 
much regarded in their being removed, as to facrifice 
any of thofe which are defigned to remain. In the 
thinning of thefe plantations, the plants may at the 
firft time be left about one foot afunder, which will 
give them room enough to grow two or three years 
longer, by which time it may be eafy to judge which 
are likely to make the beft trees ^ therefore thefe 
may be then fixed on as ftandards to remain, though 
it will be proper to have a greater number at this time 
marked than can be permitted to grow, becaufe fome 
df them may not anfwer the expectation ; and as it 
will be improper to thin thefe trees too much at one 
time, fo leaving double the number intended at 
the fecond thinning will not be amifs. Therefore, if 
they are then left at about four feet diftance in the 
rows, they will have room enough to grow three or 
four years longer ; by which time, if the plants have 
made good progrefs, their roots will have fpread over 
the ground, therefore it will be proper to take up 
every other tree in the rows. But by this I do not 
mean to be exad in the removing, but to make choice 
of the beft plants to ftand, which ever rows they may 
be in, or if they ftiould not be exadly at the diftance 
here afiigned j all that is defigned here, is to lay down 
general rules, which ftiould be as nearly complied 
with as the plants will permit ; therefore, every perfon 
ftiould be guided by the growth of the trees in the 
performance of this work. 
When the plants have been reduced to the diftance of 
about eight feet, they will not require any more thin- 
ning. But in two or three years time, thofe which 
are not to remain will be fit to cut down, to make 
ftools for under- wood ; and thofe which are to remain, 
will have made fuch progrefs as to become a fhelter 
to each other ; for this is what ftiould be principally 
attended to, whenever the trees are thinned j therefore 
in all fuch places as are much expofed to the wind, 
the trees ftiould be thinned with great caution and by 
flow degrees ; for if the air is let too much at once 
into the plantation, it will give a fudden check to 
the trees, and greatly retard their growth ; but in Ihel- 
tered fituations, there need not be fo great caution 
ufed as in thofe places, for the plants will not be in 
fo much danger of fuffering. 
The diftance which I ftiould chufe to allow to thofe 
trees which are defigned to remain for timber is, from 
twenty-five to about thirty feet, which will not be too 
near, where the trees thrive well ; in which cafe their 
heads will fpread, fo as to meet in about thirty or 
thirty-five years ; nor will this diftance be too great, 
fo as to impede the upright growth of the trees. This 
diftance is intended, that the trees ftiould enjoy the 
whole benefit of the foil •, therefore, after one crop of 
the under-wood, or at the moft two crops are cut, I 
would advffe the ftubbing up the ftools, that the 
ground may be entirely clear, for the advantage of 
the growing timber, which is what ftiould be princi- 
pally regarded j but in general, moft people have 
more regard for the immediate profit of the under- 
wood than the future good of the timber, and fre- 
quently by fo doing fpoil both for if the under- 
wood is left after the trees have fpread fo far as that 
their heads meet, the under-wood will not be of 
QL.U I . 
much worth * 3 and yet, by their ftools being, left, they 
will draw away a great ftiare of nourishment from the 
timber-trees, and retard them in their progrefs. 
The foil in which the Oak makes the greatest pro- 
grefs, is a deep rich loam, in which the trees grpw to 
the largeft fize ; and the timber of thofe trees which 
grow upon this land, is generally more pliable than 
that which grows on a fhallower or drier ground, but 
■ the wood of the latter is much more compact and 
hard. Indeed there are few foils in England, in which 
the Oak will not grow, provided there is proper care 
taken in their cultivation, though this tree will not 
thrive equally in all foils ^ but yet it might be culti- 
vated to a national advantage upon many large waftes 
in feveral parts of England, as aifo to the great profit 
of the eftates where thefe crafts of land now lie uncul- 
tivated, and produce nothing to the owner. And 
fliould the prefent temper of deftfoying the timber 
of England continue in practice fome years longer, 
in the fame degree which it has for fome years paft, 
and as little care taken to raife a fupply, this country 
which has been fo long efteemed for its naval ftrength, 
may be obliged to feek for timber abroad, or be con- 
tent with fuch a naval ftrength, as the poor remains of 
fome frugal eftates may have left growing ; for'as to 
the large forefts, from whence the navy has been fo 
long fupplied, a few years will put an end to the tim- 
ber there ; and how can it be otherwile, when the 
perfons to whofe care thefe are committed, reap an 
advantage from the deftruction of the timber ? 
Before I quit this fubjeft, I muft beg leave to take 
notice of another great evil, which is of fo much 
confequence to the public, as to deferve their utmoft 
attention •, which is, that of cutting down the Oaks 
in the fpring of the year, at the time when the lap is 
flowing. This is done for the fake of the bark, which 
will then eafily peel off-, and for the fake of this, I 
think, there is a law, whereby people are obliged to 
cut down their timber at this feafon. But by fo do- 
ing, the timber is not half fo durable as that which is 
fallen in the winter, fo that thofe ftiips, which have 
been built of this fpring-cut timber, have decayed 
more in feven or eight years, than others which were 
built with timber cut in winter *, have done in twenty 
or thirty. And this our neighbours the French have 
experienced, and therefore have wifely ordered, that 
the bark fhould be taken off the trees Handing, at the 
proper time, but the trees are left till the next, and 
fometimes until the fecond winter, before they are 
cut down ; and the timber of thefe are found to be 
more durable and better for ufe, than that of any trees 
which have not been peeled. Therefore I wifin we 
were wife enough to copy after them in thofe things 
which are for public good, rather than to imitate them 
in their follies, which has been too much the fafhion 
of late years. - 
QU I C K. By the word Quick is generally underftood 
all live hedges, of whatever fort of plants they are 
compofed, to diftinguilh them from dead hedges j 
but, in the more ftridfc fenfe of this word, it is gene- 
rally applied to the Hawthorn, or Mefpilus Sylvef- 
tris ; under which name the young plants or fees, are 
commonly fold by the nurfery-gardeners, who raife 
them for Tale. > 
In the choice of thefe fets, thofe which are raifed in 
the nurfery, are to be preferred to fuch as are drawn 
out of the woods, becaufe the latter have feldom good 
roots ; though as they are larger plants than are com- 
monly to be had in the nurfery, many people prefer 
them on that account ; but from long experience I 
have found, that thofe hedges which have been plant- 
ed with young plants from the nurfery, have always 
made the beft hedges. Indeed, if perfons would have 
patience to wait for thefe from feed, and to fow the 
Haws in the place where the hedge is defigned, thefe 
unremoved plants will make a much ftronger and more 
durable fence, than thofe which are tranfplanted ; but 
I am aware that moft people will be for condemning 
this praftice, as tedious in raffing j but if the Haws 
are 
