p I 
method is, to foak the feeds in water twenty-four hours 
before they are fown. 
When the plants appear, they muft be conftantly kept 
clean from weeds; and in very dry feafons, if they are 
now and then gently refrefhed with water, it will forward 
their growth ; but this muft be done with great care and 
caution, for if they are haftily watered, it will wafh the 
tender plants out of the ground, or lay them flat, which 
often rots their fhanks ; and, when this is too often re¬ 
peated, it will have the fame effect; fo that, unlefs it is 
judicioufly performed, it will be the beft way to give them 
none, but only fcreen them from the fun. 
If the plants come up too clofe, it will be a good method 
to thin them gently about the beginning of July. The 
plants which are drawn up may then be planted on other 
beds, which fhould be prepared ready to receive them, for 
they fttould be immediately planted as they are drawn up, 
becaufe their tender roots are foon dried and fpoiled at 
this feafon of the year. This work fhould be done (if 
poflible) in cloudy or rainy weather, and then the plants 
will draw out with better roots, and will foon put out 
new fibres again ; but, if the weather fliould prove clear 
and dry, the plants fliould be fliaded every day from the 
fun with mats, and now and then gently refrefhed with 
water. In drawing up the plants, there fliould be great 
care taken not to difturb the roots of the plants left re¬ 
maining in the feed-beds, &c. fo that, if the ground be 
hard, the beds fliould be well watered fonie time before the 
plants are thinned, to foften and loofen the earth; and 
if, after the plants are drawn out, the beds are again 
gently watered to fettle the earth to the roots of the re¬ 
maining plants, it will be of great fervice to them ; but 
it muft be done with great care, fo as not to wafh out 
their roots, or lay down the plants. The diftance w'hich 
fliould be allowed thefe plants in the new beds is four or 
five inches row from row, and three inches in the rows. 
In thefe beds the plants may remain till the fpring 
twelve-months after, by which time they will be fit to 
tranfplant where they are to remain for good; for, the 
younger the plants are when planted out, the better they 
will fucceed; as, although fome forts will bear tranfplant- 
ing at a much greater age, yet young plants, planted at 
the fame time, will in a few years overtake the large ones, 
and foon outftrip them in their growth; and there is an 
advantage in planting young, by faving the expenfe of 
flaking, and much watering, which large plants require. 
I have often feen plantations of feveral forts of pines, 
which were made of plants fix or feven feet high, and at 
the fame time others of one foot high planted between 
them, which in ten years were better trees than the old 
ones, and much more vigorous in their growth ; but, if 
the ground where they are defigned to remain cannot be 
prepared by the time before-mentioned, the plants fliould 
be planted out of the beds into a nurfery, where they 
may remain two years, but not longer; for it will be 
very hazardous to remove thefe trees at a greater age. 
The beft feafon to tranfplant all the forts of pines is 
about the latter end of March or the beginning of April, 
juft before they begin to flioot; for, although the Scotch 
pine, and fome of the moft hardy forts, may be tranfpianted 
in winter, efpecially when they are growing in ftrong 
land, where they may be taken with balls of earth to their 
roots ; yet this is what I would not advife for common 
practice, having frequently feen it attended with bad con- 
fequences, but thofe which are removed in the fprin°- 
rarely fail. 
Where thefe trees are planted in expofed fituations, 
they fliould be put pretty clofe together, that they may 
flielter each other; and, when they have grown a few 
years, part of the plants- may be cut down to give room 
for the others to grow ; but this muft be gradually per¬ 
formed, left by too much opening the plantation at once, 
the air fliould be let in among the remaining trees with 
too great violence, which will flop their growth. 
Although thefe evergreen-trees are by many perfons 
N U S. 487 
defpifed on account of their dark green in fummer, yet a 
proper mixture of thefe in large clumps make a fine ap¬ 
pearance about a feat in winter, and in fummer, by their 
contrail with other trees, have no bad effedt in diverfifying 
the fcene. Wherever large plantations are defigned to 
be made, the beft method will be to raife the plants either 
upon a part of the fame land, or as near to the place as 
poflible, and alfo upon the fame fort of foil: a fmall piece 
of ground will be fufficient to raife plants enough for 
many acres, but, as the plants require fome care in their 
firft raifing, if the neighbouring cottagers, who have many 
of them fmall inclofures adjoining to their cottages, or, 
where this is wanting, a fmall inclofure fliould be made 
them for the purpofe of raifing the plants, and they are 
furnilhed with the feeds, and diredtions for fowing them, 
and managing the young plants till they are fit for tranf- 
planting, the women and children may be ufefully em¬ 
ployed in this work ; and, the proprietors of land agree¬ 
ing with them to take their plants when railed at a cer¬ 
tain price, it would be a great benefit to the poor; and 
hereby they would be engaged to have a regard for the 
plantations when made, and prevent their being deftroyed. 
The Scotch pine, as was before obferved, being the 
hardieft of all the kinds, and the wood of it the moft 
ufeful, is the fort which beft deferves care. This will 
thrive upon the moft barren lands, where fcarce any thing 
elfe except heath and furze will grow ; and there are 
many thoufand acres of fuch land lying convenient for 
water-carriage, which at prefent are of little benefit *o 
any body, that might, by plantations of thefe trees, be¬ 
come good eftates to their proprietors, and alfo a national 
benefit; and, as the legiflature has taken this into con- 
fideration, and already paffed fome laws for encouraging 
thefe plantations, as alfo for their prefervation and fecu- 
rity, it may be hoped that this will be undertaken by 
gentlemen who are poffeffed of fuch lands in all the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the kingdom with proper fpirit; for, al¬ 
though they may not expedt to receive much profit from 
thefe plantations in their own times, yet their fucceflors 
may with large intereft; and the pleafure which thofe 
growing trees will afford them, by beautifying the pre¬ 
lent dreary parts of the country, will in fome meafure re- 
compenfe them for their trouble and expenfe. 
The natural quality of our pines (the fpruce, the larch, 
and the Scotch fir, in particular) are quite equal to the 
pines from our American colonies ; and with proper care 
in the raifing, pruning, feafoning, and felling, would be 
found to aniwer in fhip-building equally as well as the 
fir-timber and deals imported from North Europe. For 
near a century paft we have been the dupes of our 
northern neighbours, who, by care and proper manage¬ 
ment in rearing and felling their trees, have brought their 
fir-timber and deals into the beft condition for ufe; and 
we have been ufing thefe materials, while our own fpruce, 
larch, and Scotch fir, though naturally equal to them in 
quality, have been out of repute; infomuch, that an 
univerfal prejudice has been railed againft them; and 
thus have our neighbours been enriched at the expenfe 
of our negligence and mifmanagement. 
We are glad to fee the undue prejudices giving way, 
which have long exifted againft the fir and larch of 
Scotland. It has been fliown by a late writer (Barlow' on 
the Strength of Timber, &c.) from adlual experiments on 
the ftrength of different woods, that the fir-timber of the 
foreft of Mar is at lead equal to that of the beft Riga ; 
and that it is in all refpedts as well adapted to the pur- 
pofes of fhip-building. The following extract from the 
laft-mentioned author is fo much to our prefent purpofe, 
that we make no apology forintroducing it. Speaking of 
the trees from which his fpecimens were cut, he fays: 
“Each of thefe trees was about twenty-eight inches in 
diameter at the but, and contained fifty feet in length of 
ferviceable timber; the grain remarkably clean, free from 
knots, and full of turpentine ; and, from the refults in the' 
table, it appears that the ftrength exceeds that of any 
other 
