them remain till the spring after. 
ACORNS. 
ning of April, the succeeding spring, cut them 
under ground as directed for the beech, and let 
From this 
situation, as soon as their buds begin to swell, 
let them be carefully raised, without tearing their 
roots or fibres ; and ground being ready, separate 
the straight free-growing plants from the crooked 
and shrubby ; shorten any downright or bruised 
roots, but be very sparing of the small fibres; and 
plant the straight trees in one quarter of the 
nursery, in rows, two feet asunder, and nine 
inches in the row; and the crooked ones in an- | 
other, at the same distances: let these plants be 
as little time as possible out of the ground; for 
this purpose, raise few of them at a time, and if 
you have the command of four men, they will 
suddenly despatch a great number of them, that 
is, by one man raising the plants, another prun- 
| ing them, and giving them to the planters, 
and two planting. If the land is good, and the 
seasons have been kindly, the straight plants may 
be removed in two years; but when either of 
| these circumstances is otherways, they may con- 
tinue three seasons. 
“™Mhe crooked and brushy trees, having stood 
two years in the nursery, must be cut over by the 
ground, and remain two years longer; and ob- 
serve, that, as soon as their shoots are four or 
five inches long, you pinch off all but the most 
promising one; from whence the whole strength 
and juices of the root will be exerted in the sup- 
port of this single shoot.—Another method of 
raising these trees, with equal success, is, sowing 
the acorns on beds, in rows, seven or eight inches 
asunder, and two or three inches in the row, 
covering them the usual depth, and letting them 
remain only one year. From these beds remove 
them the following spring, and having shortened 
their top roots, lay them in lines, cut down per- 
pendicular with the spade, eighteen inches asun- 
der, and eight or nine inches in the line, where 
they may continue two years. From thence re- 
move them, separating, as has been said, the 
straight from the crooked, and plant them in dif- 
ferent quarters, in rows, two feet and a half 
asunder, and one foot distance in the row; the 
straight plants to continue here three years, and 
the crooked, if they have grown freely, to be cut 
over in one, but if otherways, not till two years; 
and here they should remain three years longer.” 
- Some writers recommend that the land de- 
signed for the reception of acorns should be dis- 
posed in beds each four feet wide, and separated 
from one another by paths each two feet broad; 
and others recommend that it should be laid out 
with the hand-hoe in ridges of four feet in width, 
two inches in crown height, and separated from one 
another by open-drain furrows,—that, to prevent 
the rows of plants from obstructing the flow of 
the surface-water toward the furrows, the drill- 
lines for the seeds should be drawn across the 
crowns of the ridges or at right angles to the 
furrows,—and that, to allow the land to have the 
ACORUS. 39 
free action of the surface-drainage as long as 
possible before the sowing of the seeds, both the 
ridges and the furrows should be formed a twelve- 
month before the time of sowing. But some 
nurserymen seem determined to reject all such 
niceties, and either to sow the acorns thick and 
broadcast in small seed-beds with a view to very 
early transplantation, or to draw their seed-drills | 
upon the natural level of the ground, without any 
break, from side to side of a whole plot. We have 
seen instructions for sowing acorns, which seemed 
to say that, if simply flung from the hand or tossed 
about by boys and women, they would take care 
of themselves, and not fail to become proper trees ; 
and these precious instructions appeared to curry 
favour with short-sighted niggards by telling 
them that an acre of ground can be sown for five 
shillings. But if good or even tolerable seedlings 
are to be raised,—such seedlings as shall embody 
the young energies and sturdy habits of truly 
noble oaks, nearly all the care and cost of at once | | 
the best soil, the best sowing, and the best cul- 
ture will be required. 
We observe with regret that, even when due 
tilth and sowing are practised in nursery-grounds, 
the after culture is sometimes far from being | 
creditable ; and we recommend to intending pur- 
chasers of young plants, if they have a choice of 
markets, and if other conditions be equal, to give 
a decided preference to the nursery-ground whose 
oakling plots are freest of weeds. As soon as 
the young plants appear above ground, the soil 
should be thoroughly loosened and cleaned with 
the hoe; and as often as the surface is hardened, | 
or a new appearance of weeds is to be seen, the hoe- 
ing ought tobe repeated. Inthespring of the third 
year of their growth, the plants should be thinned 
out to the distance of one foot or upwards from one © 
another in the row; and in the spring of their fifth | 
year, they will be in a fit condition for removalto | 
their final situation. Both the cultivator in thin- 
ning out, and the purchaser in selecting, ought to 
reject all plants except such as have a robust stem, 
a clear bark, and a plump leading bud; for only 
seedlings which possess these properties are likely 
to produce trees which will have a noble charac- 
ter, or which will successfully combat acciden- 
tal injuries, defects of soil, or disadvantages of 
climate. See articles Oax, Puantine, and Trans- 
PLANTING.—Tvreaivse on Planting in Library of 
Useful Knowledge.—Nicol’s Planter’s Kalendar.— - 
Miller’s Gardener's Dictionary.—Loudon’s Gar- 
dener’s Magazine:-—The Society of Gentlemen’s Com- 
plete Farmer—Boutcher’s Treatise on Forest Trees. 
ACORUS,—popularly Swrert Frac or SweEerr 
Rusu. Asmall genus of perennial, semi-gramine- 
ous plants, of the tribe aroidez. A grass-leaved 
species from China was introduced about half- 
a-century ago, but continues to be little known. 
The common species, Acorus calamus, is indige- 
nous in many parts of Europe, Asia, and America, 
and grows in open situations, in shallow waters, 
or on the banks of rivers. It is found wild in 
