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 ! BROWNE 2 KELLY 3 HOWE. 
 + CRUBHAM]hOD0SOn| 5SCR0PE. 
 
 
 6 ALINOTON 7 HAP'OPP 8 DEI BURGH 
 
 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 NCSU Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/seriesoffactshinOObill 
 
Here stands the Oak, the Monarch of the Wood ! 
 
 Home. 
 
 The Oak in Winter divested of its leafy ornaments, 
 
 Noble and majestic in its native dignity. 
 
 " When unadornd, adorn d the most. * 1 
 
A SERIES OF 
 
 FACTS, HINTS, OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 AND 
 
 EXPERIMENTS 
 
 ON THE DIFFERENT MODES OF RAISING 
 
 YOUNG PLANTATIONS OF OAKS, 
 
 M FOR FUTURE NAVIES," 
 
 FROM THE ACORN, SEEDLING, 
 
 AND LARGER PLANTS, 
 
 Shewing the Difficulties and Objections that have occurred in the 
 
 PRACTICAL PART; 
 
 WITH REMARKS UI'ON THE 
 
 JTencing, draining, priming, anD Craining 
 
 YOUNG TREES; 
 
 A clear and copious Statement of the early and great Profits and 
 
 Advantages which may be derived from Plantations of mixed 
 
 and various Trees, by Care and Attention, and the 
 
 contrary Effects from Negligence. 
 
 ALSO HOW 
 
 Creea are retartieD or accelerated indftototl) 
 
 BY THE 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG PLANTATIONS. 
 
 WITH 
 
 HINTS AND EXPERIMENTAL REMARKS 
 
 UPON 
 
 FRUIT TREES. 
 
 The Whole derived from actual Experience on a most extended Scale. 
 
 By WILLIAM BILLINGTON, 
 
 Member of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, Superintendent of 
 the Enclosing, Fencing, Draining, and Planting of 11000 Acres of 
 Land in the Forest of Dean, and about 900 Acres at Chopwell, in 
 the County of Durham, belonging to His Majesty ; and formerly 
 Gardener to the late Lord Yarborough and the present Earl of 
 Haddington. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Sold by Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, Paternoster Row ; J. Harding, 
 St James's Street ; E. Charnley, and W. Heaton, Newcastle upon 
 Tyne ; and other Booksellers. 
 
 1825. 
 
Preston & Heaton, Printers, 
 Newcastle upon Tyne. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 The Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle. 
 
 The Earl of Haddington. 
 
 The Earl of Powis. 
 
 Lord Viscount Clive, Powis Castle. 
 
 The Right Hon. Lord Hill, Hardwick Grange. 
 
 Lord Binning, M. P. 
 
 Sir T. I. Tyrwhitt Jones, Bart. M. P. Stanley Hall. 
 
 Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart. Loton Park. 
 
 Corbett Panton, Esq. M. P. Leighton. 
 
 Abbs Bryan, Esq. Cleadon. 
 
 Ainsley George, Esq. Preston. 
 
 Browell Robert Ward, Esq. Hagg House. 
 
 Barras John, Esq. Gateshead. 
 
 Bell Mr William, Marlow Hill. 
 
 Bewick Mr Thomas, Newcastle. 
 
 Bannerman Mr A. Liverpool. 
 
 Birch Mr Joseph, Shrewsbury. 
 
 Corbett A. William, Esq. Sundorn Castle. 
 
 Coupland Mr William, Gibside. 
 
 Dunn M. W, Esq. Hedgefield. 
 
 Davison Morton J. Esq. Beamish. 
 
 Dovaston John F. M, Esq. West Felton. 
 
 Dickson Mr J. H, Nursery & Seedsman, Chester. 
 
 Ellison William, Esq. Lintz Green. 
 
 Embleton Richard, Esq. Newcastle. 
 
 Featherston J. R, Esq. Newcastle. 
 
 Fenwick Mr Ralph, Marlow Hill. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Greenwell Nicholas, Esq. Colt Pike Hill. 
 
 Hepple Mr Joseph, Black Hall Mill. 
 
 Hutchinson James, Esq. Sheriff-hill. 
 
 Jeffreys W. Esq. Shrewsbury. 
 
 Johnston Mr Alexander, Powis Castle. 
 
 Joyce Messrs, Nursery &: Seedsmen, Gateshead. 
 
 Kelly Mr W. Newcastle. 
 
 Laws W. Esq. Prudhoe Castle. 
 
 Lambton Ralph J. Esq. Murton House. 
 
 Lloyd J. A. Esq. Leaton Knolls. 
 
 Lloyd Thomas, Esq. Shrewsbury. 
 
 Marshall John, Esq. Hallstead. 
 
 Plummer Robert, Esq. Newcastle. 
 
 Riddell Ralph, Esq. Cheeseburn Grange. 
 
 Silvertop George, Esq. Minsteracres. 
 
 Surtees Anthony, Esq. Hamsterley Hall. 
 
 Surtees Robert, Esq. Redworth House. 
 
 Thorpe Rev. C. Ryton. 
 
 Townley Peregrine E. Esq. Townley Park. 
 
 Watson Mr Jared, Colt Park. 
 
 Witham Henry, Esq. Lartington. 
 
 Wood John Clavering, Esq. Marsh Hall. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Fencing, Draining, Sec 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 On planting the acorn, seedling, and larger plants. 
 — Causes of the failure of the acorns and seed- 
 lings. — Remarks and observations thereon ... 26 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Plantations of mixed trees, shewing how they are 
 accelerated or retarded in their growth by differ- 
 ent modes of treatment ; with a table of experi- 
 mental facts to prove it 73 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 On the profits arising from planting larches, as 
 
 nurses to other trees 101 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 Of the various uses to which larches might be appli- 
 ed at an early growth. — Of the gooseberry and 
 currant plants, with remarks on the value of the 
 
 wine to be produced from the fruits thereof 110 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 )n the advantage of keeping plants free from the 
 various shrubs, or herbage, that overgrow and ex- 
 clude the light, (for air cannot be excluded) and 
 prevent the increase and healthy state of the leaves 
 
 and branches 138 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 On the utility of leaves and branches 147 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Pruning and training 157 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 Undergrowth for corf -rods, and other purposes. — 
 Thinning the oak stools in coppices. — Remark- 
 able size of some whins. — Causes of the larch 
 failing, and not thriving in wet cohesive soils 
 proved, also upon dry soils abounding with whins, 
 8k 195 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACI. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Distances to plant trees — Spoiled for want of pruning, 
 as well as by injudicious pruning. — To prune the 
 young plants in the nursery and plantations ; the 
 Summer and Autumn seasons the best. — Trench- 
 ing ground for plantations. — Account of trees, 
 their increase in bulk in a given time, endeavour- 
 ed to be ascertained. — Spanish chesnuts thrive in 
 high and cold situations. — Further remarks on the 
 food of trees. — How increased in bulk — Sap re- 
 mains in the branches all the Winter, proved ... 224 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Experiments upon fruit trees. — A cheap and ready 
 prepared plaster for the wounds of trees. — New 
 sort of crooks or nails for wall-trees 255 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 More facts and remarks on the destructive nature 
 and peculiarities of the field mouse 277 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 On cutting off large, broken, or decayed branches. — 
 Remarks and experiments on applying fresh cow 
 dung to the recent wounds of forest and fruit trees 285 
 SECTION III. 
 On reclaiming and bringing woods and plantations 
 that have been neglected, or got into a ruinou- 
 stunted state for want of thinning, &c. into a 
 
 healthy and profitable condition 301 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 Further remarks on the probable utility of the furze, 
 or whin, as food for various animals. — Shelter, 
 
 fencing, &c. 311 
 
 SECTION V. 
 On the fruit of the common bramble. — Remarks on 
 the probable virtues ami uses of our native fruits 
 
 and herbs 317 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 Hints for an Arborecultural Society — Its beneficial 
 tendency 327 
 
Ui-mlOO/J/MH-Dk!* 
 
 Having been appointed, by the late Lord 
 Glenbervie, surveyor-general of his Ma- 
 jesty's woods and forests, to superintend 
 the enclosing, fencing, draining and plant- 
 ing of Dean Forest, in the year 1810, and 
 as the raising of young oak plantations, 
 " for future Navies, " is a great national 
 and public object, and of much interest 
 to most landed proprietors, I trust this 
 effort of mine to render such information 
 to the public as came to my own know- 
 ledge and experience, on so important 
 and interesting a subject, will not be 
 taken amiss. 
 
 From the situation I was in, and the 
 opportunity I had of making observations 
 and remarks, by order of the commis- 
 sioners for their information, and latterly 
 for my own gratification, it became my 
 duty to point out where any of the modes 
 pursued failed of their object, or were not 
 likely to attain it, to suggest such altera- 
 tions and improvements as were more 
 likely to answer, which were almost 
 invariably approved of by the commis- 
 sioners and authorised to be done, and 
 which caused several deviations from the 
 original contract during the progress of 
 the works. 
 
 b 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I flatter myself that what I shall offer 
 in the following sheets will shew many 
 things in a new light, to those who have 
 not had an opportunity of so much prac- 
 tical experience, and interesting to most 
 persons who have plantations of their own, 
 or are interested or amused with such 
 laudable pursuits. From those who have 
 better abilities or more experience I 
 must hope for much candour in judg- 
 ment, for I have found that what I 
 thought right, or the best way at one 
 time, (or perhaps had thought but little 
 about it,) more mature experience has 
 taught me to alter my opinion on various 
 subjects; a fact, which should teach us not 
 to be too positive in the justness of our 
 first thoughts. 
 
 Is it not strange, yet not more strange 
 than true, that, while improvements in the 
 knowledge of Agriculture, Horticulture, 
 and every other art, have and are making 
 such rapid progress, the knowledge and 
 proper management of young plantations 
 and woods should be left so far behind, 
 although of such great public importance, 
 and being also a favourite pursuit of most 
 landed proprietors? I hope that what I shall 
 have to advance upon this subject may 
 be the means of inducing gentlemen, gar- 
 deners, and other practical men, to bend 
 their thoughts to the further improve- 
 
IxNTRODUCTION. 
 
 ment and true knowledge in the art of 
 planting, and right management of young 
 plantations, which are of such acknowledg- 
 ed national as well as private importance. 
 
 I do not profess to write as a scientific 
 man or a scholar, but to relate plain mat- 
 ters of fact, that have come under my 
 own observation and experience, and in 
 as clear and intelligible a manner as I am 
 capable of, and to point out the errors 
 and disadvantages that too often occur in 
 practice, with the best way that I know 
 of obviating them, and to render more 
 certain the success and greatest possible 
 advantage that may be derived from plan- 
 tations in the shortest time, which I hope 
 to make clear by experimental facts, 
 which will be found in the course of the 
 work, shewing how trees may be forwarded 
 or retarded in their growth, " by skill and 
 care on the one hand, or neglect and ig- 
 norance on the other. " 
 
 What I shall have to advert to chiefly 
 in the course of this work, will be the 
 planting, with the care and management 
 of plantations in the first period of their 
 growth, which is by far the most impor- 
 tant of all ; for as the human character is 
 formed in the first 10 or 12 years, so is it 
 with forest plantations, if the greatest 
 care and skill are not used then, to " train 
 them in the way they should go " when 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 young, what can be done afterwards gene- 
 rally has but little effect, as the experi- 
 ence of all ages will testify. 
 
 I have somewhere read, that the man 
 who can make two blades of grass grow 
 where only one grew before, deserves 
 some little praise ; if I can be able to 
 demonstrate that two or even three trees 
 can grow with equal advantage to all, 
 where only one grew before, for a given 
 time, it will, I hope, entitle this my humble 
 effort " to be of use in my generation, " 
 to a favourable consideration from that 
 public to whom I dedicate it. 
 
 Chopwell, W. B. 
 
 October, 1825. 
 
Juried at Jfact£, kt. 
 
 CHAR I. 
 
 Fencing, Draining, fyc. 
 
 The planting of Dean-Forest, in the 
 county of Gloucester, commenced in the 
 year 1809 ; the work was contracted for 
 by Messrs Drivers, land and timber sur- 
 veyors, Kent-road, near London, and exe- 
 cuted by their agent, Mr Amos Sleed. 
 
 I shall first speak of the modes adopted 
 in the Forest of Dean, before I treat of 
 the plantations at Chopwell, which were 
 done in a different manner, but with the 
 same object in view, viz. the raising of oak 
 timber for naval purposes ; and which, 
 perhaps, will be more interesting to those 
 gentlemen who plant merely for immedi- 
 ate profit. 
 
 As the fencing and clearing the ground 
 for planting were the first objects, I shall 
 endeavour to be as brief and clear as pos- 
 sible on those heads. 
 
The ground at first was cleared of most 
 of the oak timber trees, and all other trees 
 of different kinds. Many parts of the fo- 
 rest were thickly covered with the most 
 beautiful hollies, which had originally, it 
 is supposed, been planted for the support 
 of the deer in severe winters, when the 
 preservation of them was judged of more 
 consequence than the value of the timber. 
 Great quantities of thorn and crab trees 
 were also cut down and cleared, for the 
 better holing and planting according to 
 the contract ; but, towards the conclusion, 
 it was considered an error to make it so 
 bare, and in consequence more of the 
 hollies remained for shelter, and upwards 
 of 1000 acres were left to nature, where a 
 considerable quantity of oak timber trees 
 were standing. 
 
 None of the undergrowth was cut down 
 at first, but the spaces were to be filled 
 up with oaks and Spanish chesnuts, if it 
 should appear such places were not likely 
 to be stocked from the acorns in a natural 
 way, or by trying the experiment again 
 with acorns on some of the largest bare 
 
spaces* and that were more clear from 
 growing trees ; which again failing, the 
 vacancies were filled up with large plants 
 of oaks and Spanish chesnuts, and some 
 ash for the moist ground. The young 
 oaks, that were making their appearance 
 in the hrakes of undergrowth after it was 
 enclosed and the cattle, &c. kept out, were 
 cleared by cutting it away from the plants. 
 But more of the nature of this work when 
 I come to treat of the Chopwell woods. 
 
 We found a good deal of difficulty in 
 bringing the fencing to answer the pur- 
 pose of keeping out sheep, cattle, horses, 
 mules, &c. that depastured on the unin- 
 closed parts of the forest ; and, when their 
 range became curtailed and the pasture 
 scanty, hunger made them very keen for 
 a better pasture, which they were sure to 
 find if they could get over the fences into 
 their former haunts. 
 
 We had upwards of 100 miles of new 
 fences, about 25 of which were stone walls, 
 where the materials could be had conve- 
 nient and cheap without the expence of 
 hauling with teams, or wheeling too great 
 
a distance ; upwards of 70 miles of 
 earthen banks, and the rest of hedge and 
 ditch, according to local circumstances ; 
 besides several miles of old fences, part 
 walls, which had to be repaired and rebuilt. 
 The contract specified the earthen banks 
 to be made 4 feet 6 inches wide at the 
 bottom, 5 feet high, and 2 feet wide at 
 the top ; and a ditch 18 inches deep on 
 the outside, with an offset 1 foot wide 
 between the ditch and the foot of the 
 bank ; a row of furze or whins to be sown 
 along the top of the banks, and another 
 at the outside foot of the banks on the 
 offsets, also at the foot of the walls on the 
 outsides. The furze or whin to be used 
 is what grows in the north of England, 
 very different from the variety growing in 
 the forest and the south of England, being 
 much stronger and more prickly, at least 
 much stronger spines, and of a more quick 
 and gigantic growth, which makes it much 
 more destructive to young plantations 
 than the other sort. People who have 
 not seen or remarked the two varieties, 
 or noticed the different effects in a few 
 
years growth, cannot conceive their de- 
 structive and injurious effects in young 
 plantations. The north of England vari- 
 ety flowers in the spring months, whereas 
 the other flowers towards the end of sum- 
 mer or autumn. I have seen none of the 
 kind peculiar to the south in these north- 
 ern counties, or in Scotland, to the best of 
 my recollection. 
 
 In general the earthen banks stood very 
 well on all the wet or moory soils, and the 
 dry thin soils on the high grounds where 
 the turf was full of small roots of 
 heath, furze, rushes, grass, &c. ; and care 
 was taken to build them entirely of turf, 
 cut thin, from three to four or five inches 
 thick, according to the nature of the turf, 
 placing the grass-side downwards, and no 
 loose soil to be put in the middle, ex- 
 cept the two or three first layers, which 
 must be well trodden down. 
 
 This is a very material circumstance, 
 and should not be overlooked, as the 
 durability and keeping to their form 
 depend very much upon it. The turfs 
 should be cut long, so as to meet each 
 
6 
 
 other as soon as possible ; if they can be 
 all turf, the better, as the banks stand 
 and keep much closer to their form, and 
 as the loose soil settles it causes them to 
 fall in and bulge different ways. 
 
 But over the soils of a loamy nature, 
 inclining to clay or marl, or where- the 
 ground had been formerly disturbed by 
 old coal works, or wherever the land was 
 of such a nature that the air, water, or 
 frosts caused it to expand or pulverise, we 
 had the utmost difficulty in getting them 
 to stand. The sheep and cattle, by graz- 
 ing on the outsides of the banks in such 
 soils, pulled up the grass that grew be- 
 tween the layers of turf by the roots, 
 which caused them to crumble down like 
 clay, marl, or lime, and which occasioned 
 a great extra expence in facing the banks 
 with fresh turf, the grass side outwards, 
 or with stones, according to local circum- 
 stances, the contiguity of materials, and 
 the kind of stock that frequented such 
 parts. 
 
 When the banks entirely gave way, it 
 occasioned gaps or breaks on the top of 
 
the whin hedge, which looked very un- 
 sightly. Sometimes only the outside turf 
 slipped down, and did not in the least dis- 
 turb the live hedge of whins ; but when 
 the whins are young, they will transplant, 
 and it would be well to be always (as we 
 were) provided with some young plants, 
 to make good any failures which might 
 arise from casualties. 
 
 But the greatest difficulties were to en- 
 counter after the banks were made, the 
 whins sown, and prospering very well. 
 The young whins, sown for the fence, 
 so tempting to the sheep and other 
 cattle, that the sheep could get upon the 
 banks in most places, particularly where 
 they sloped towards the enclosures, which 
 frequently happened on the first made 
 banks from the middle having been filled 
 with the loose soil. Instead of building 
 them entirely of turf, care should be 
 taken to keep the outsides of the banks 
 more upright than the sides within the 
 enclosure, as the sheep cannot get up so 
 easily. The other cattle also could reach 
 to crop the young whins and grass that 
 
8 
 
 grew upon the tops of the banks which 
 kept the fence from getting up, so that 
 we could not keep the sheep out of the 
 enclosures. , 
 
 Well, what was to be done ? The wood- 
 men were complaining that the sheep were 
 continually trespassing and injuring the 
 young plants as well as the fences ; and 
 as " necessity is the mother of invention," 
 after various trials of laying loose branch- 
 es of thorns, hollies, crabs, &c. against the 
 banks, which were soon found to do more 
 harm than good ; for the grass grew so 
 strong when protected and sheltered by 
 the branches, as to encourage the moles 
 and short-tailed field mice to burrow and 
 render them quite hollow and loose near 
 the surface, which nearly ruined some of 
 the first-made banks, and, when the cattle 
 could get to graze upon them, soil and 
 grass came away together. 
 
 At last, however, we hit upon a cheap 
 method, and which perfectly succeeded. 
 By cutting some of the strong branches 
 of the hollies, thorns, and crabs, (or other 
 wood, where these could not be had con- 
 
9 
 
 veniently) into 2 feet to 2^ feet lengths, 
 leaving the lateral or side shoots on, 
 shortened a little on the part that would 
 appear out of the ground, allowing a foot 
 or 15 inches to drive in the bank, and 
 about a foot or 15 inches out of the bank, 
 according to the height of it ; for, if left 
 much longer, a heavy snow would be apt 
 to break it down. The branches, or 
 sprags, as we termed them, must be stuck 
 in the bank at the outside edge of the 
 uppermost turf projecting outwards, thus, 
 
 showing the end section of a bank, with 
 the live hedge of whins on the top, and 
 the dead hedge of thorns to protect it from 
 being bruised or cropped by the sheep and 
 cattle for the first three years. The dead 
 thorns should be put pretty close together, 
 to prevent the cattle getting their noses 
 between them after the grass and young 
 whins, which would force them out or break 
 
10 
 
 them off, when they become a little taint- 
 ed, or rotten alter the first year or two. 
 We had a dead hedge of stronger mate- 
 rials, drove in at the bottom of the banks, 
 similar to the one at the top, to keep off 
 the sheep and cattle from grazing the 
 banks; but this was found of little use, and 
 abandoned, nor was the ditch at the out- 
 sides of the banks found to be of much 
 service, but in some cases prejudicial, as 
 it caused the foundations of the banks to 
 give way in wet ground inclining to clay, 
 and the banks slipped down ; but still we 
 preserved the form of the ditch to carry 
 off the water in the wet ground, and to 
 add to the height of the bank when ne- 
 cessary, but seldom the full depth. The 
 rows of whins, ordered to be sown at the 
 outside foot of the banks and walls, were 
 also abandoned as of no use ; in fact, we 
 could not raise them there without incur- 
 ring a great unnecessary expence. When 
 the furze or whins are of about three 
 years growth, they should be cut with a 
 hook or bill with a long handle, and as 
 wide at the base as the bank is wide at 
 
11 
 
 the top, sloping a little on each side to 
 about 18 or 20 inches high. The hedge 
 will require cutting once a year at least ; 
 for, if s uttered to grow wild, it would soon 
 get too heavy for the banks, become dead 
 at the bottoms, and the winds and other 
 causes would soon destroy them. In fact, 
 without an annual clipping, they would 
 not answer the purpose, and it would be 
 far better not to attempt to raise them. 
 Any person, who has noticed how the 
 sheep and other cattle crop the whins on 
 the commons or fells in the north of 
 England, may form a very good idea 
 what a beautiful, useful, and durable 
 fence they would make. 
 
 Very cheap and beneficial fences may 
 be raised on banks much lower than those 
 I have described, or sown upon the level 
 surface, and in many cases where they 
 are growing naturally, if they could be 
 preserved from the brousing of sheep and 
 cattle till they have arrived at so suffici- 
 ent a size and strength as not to be injur- 
 ed by them, which would be the case in 
 3, 4, or 5 years, according to the height 
 
12 
 
 of the bank. Such fences as these would 
 afford the most complete shelter and 
 warmth, are sooner and more cheaply 
 raised, and, for the enclosure of fells or 
 commons, would far surpass every other 
 description of fence, as the Whin will 
 thrive in abundance where the Quick 
 will not. 
 
 I have formed some whin hedges at 
 Chopwell upon the level ground from 
 young whins, and from some that had 
 been burnt and cut off at the ground 
 when cleared for planting, for the in- 
 spection of any gentleman, who might 
 wish to see such fences before he adopt- 
 ed the method. If the fence should 
 chance to be burnt by any accident, as the 
 whins will shoot from the old stumps 
 with great vigour, two or three years 
 will restore it to what it was before such 
 accident if upon a bank, but a longer pe- 
 riod is necessary if on the level ground. 
 Where land has been overrun with whins, 
 as is very frequent in the northern counties, 
 if it is desirable to enclose them either for 
 planting or cultivation, quick, cheap, and 
 
IS 
 
 beneficial fences may be formed by cut- 
 ting the whins, where they are properly 
 situated, from each side, and leaving a row 
 about three or four feet wide at the bot- 
 tom, cutting it in a sloping manner on 
 each side to the top ; the stumps that are 
 left will produce young shoots below 
 where they have been cut off, and in a 
 year or two will form a handsome ever- 
 green hedge, both for shelter, use, and 
 ornament ; if they should be very old 
 whins, it might perhaps be better to 
 cut them off entirely at the roots ; but 
 whins of a young growth may be formed 
 into fences in the manner I have describ- 
 ed, having done some myself, and found 
 it at once easy and practicable. 
 
 I have observed in this neighbourhood, 
 on a farm called Broad Oak, belonging to 
 the Duke of Northumberland, where ex- 
 cellent fences might have been formed 
 from the whins that were growing upon 
 the land, and of strength sufficient to 
 have formed a fence, but which were 
 burnt and destroyed, and other hedges 
 made of dead materials and young quicks 
 
14 
 
 at a very great expence, which are conti- 
 nually wanting repairs, and perhaps in a 
 few years are smothered again by whins. 
 
 I have before said that whin fences 
 would be very beneficial, the annual clip- 
 pings of the whins being eagerly sought 
 after by the poor inhabitants round the 
 forest as food for their horses, mules, and 
 cows; of this fact we had a strong instance, 
 for, before the hedges were cut, we could 
 not keep the people out of the enclosures, 
 cropping the young whins in every direc- 
 tion for the support of their stock ; but 
 when the strong species was introduced 
 on the banks, they preferred it to the 
 smaller native furze, gorse, or whin, and 
 would even buy it from the woodmen if 
 it was cut in the winter season. 
 
 At first we cut it in the summer, but 
 this may be done at any season of the 
 vear with safety ; and when it can be 
 converted to the support of stock, it may 
 be as well to cut it in the winter months. 
 The shoots of one year's growth are al- 
 ways used, and are prepared by putting 
 them in a large wooden trough, and chop- 
 
15 
 
 ping them small with something like a 
 mole-catchers spade, only longer and 
 heavier, and about six or seven pounds 
 weight. It is a very nutritive food, especial- 
 ly for horses, as it makes them sleek and 
 kind with their dry winter's food ; it is 
 also reckoned excellent for producing 
 milk, much in quantity and fine in 
 quality, many poor people keeping a 
 cow, and a horse or two, with scarce any 
 other food. 
 
 Chopping the whin by the hand is both 
 laborious and tedious ; and I was induced 
 to try if a thrashing machine would an- 
 swer the purpose, but I soon found it 
 would not. No doubt, however, need be 
 entertained but instruments may be made 
 to crush or bruise it ; perhaps something 
 like a forge-hammer would answer the 
 purpose. I have heard of mills to bruise 
 it, but have never seen one ; however it 
 would be a very cheap and nutritive food, 
 if an easy method could be contrived to 
 bruise it. Horses would soon learn to eat 
 it by mixing it with their corn, and per- 
 haps it would be the best way of giving 
 
16 
 
 it them, when one half or one third of 
 the corn would suffice ; but if given with 
 their corn, it would require chopping 
 small ; if it was well bruised to crush the 
 spines and thick stalks, they would eat 
 it like hay. Some kinds of land would 
 produce more profitable food from whins 
 than from any other state of cultiva- 
 tion, as might be easily conceived by only 
 observing the thick sappy shoots of the 
 whins, from a foot to eighteen inches in 
 length, compared with the burnt-up 
 herbage, moss, or scanty crops of corn, if 
 such land is under cultivation, besides 
 the additional extent of surface from the 
 bushes being raised like hillocks. 
 
 From what has been said, and proved 
 from experience, there appears only one 
 conclusion, viz. to convert the annual 
 shoots of the whins into a very useful 
 food for horses, cows, and sheep, which is 
 a cheap and easy method of preparing it 
 for them. Then the annual clippings 
 of the whin fences, in situations where 
 sheep or other cattle cannot go to 
 browse on them, may be turned to the 
 
17 
 
 greatest advantage. The knowledge of 
 their usefulness might be of the most 
 essential service, as well to the farmer in 
 high and hilly situations and severe 
 seasons when fodder is scarce and dear, 
 as to the mining districts in Durham 
 and other parts of the kingdom. Having 
 seen and proved their efficacy, I have 
 advanced nothing upon this head of 
 mere theory or speculation. 
 
 By experience we found that the banks 
 stood and answered the purpose as well 
 by reducing the dimensions to 4 feet 
 wide at the bottom, 4 feet 6 inches 
 high, and to about 18 inches wide at 
 the top, putting one entire good thick 
 turf at the top, or rounding it a little with 
 good soil to keep the wet out of the in- 
 side in moist situations, to sow the seeds 
 in, and to prevent them falling too deep 
 between the turfs. The seeds should be 
 sown in a shallow drill along the middle 
 of the banks, as soon after the bank is 
 made as possible, as they vegetate 
 and grow much better when the soil is 
 fresh, and the whins get up before the 
 
18 
 
 grass or weeds ; this is worth attending to, 
 for we found a material difference in the 
 practice. The walls were made of as flat 
 stones as could be procured, without mor- 
 tar, 5 feet high, with a good turf laid 
 along the top to keep out the wet and 
 hold them together. Both the banks and 
 walls generally gave way, under the shock 
 of heavy and long continued rains, except 
 the stones were of a very durable quality 
 and well put together. The earthen 
 banks with the whin hedge answered bet- 
 ter, as we found much disappointment 
 and great extra expence from stone that 
 appeared quite hard and good when dug- 
 out of the quarry, but, when it came to 
 be exposed to the action of the atmos- 
 phere for some time, it crumbled away 
 very fast, and occasioned such breaches 
 in the walls as could not be repaired with- 
 out dragging stones from a great distance, 
 or substituting some other kind of fence. 
 The quality of the stones should therefore, 
 be well ascertained before they are put in 
 the walls, or heavy loss must inevitably 
 ensue. 
 
19 
 
 Since I have been at Chopwell, I have 
 made a very durable dead hedge on the 
 top of a bank to project outwards, similar 
 to those in the forest for the protection 
 of the whin hedges on the banks, with 
 short larch stakes drove in the bank about 
 9 inches apart, and slightly bound with 
 long slender black thorns ; and as both the 
 larch and black thorns are very durable, it 
 will last a long time, and answer exactly 
 the same as it did in the forest, to keep 
 out strong cattle and sheep, which never 
 got over after it was made, although they 
 were hungry at the time, and could not 
 be kept out before with the common 
 hedge. Short larch stakes, about 2 or %\ 
 feet long, are sufficient. The tops of 
 the larches will do. I have likewise made 
 some similar fences with larches, leaving 
 the side branches on, shortened to about 
 6 or 9 inches in length, driving them in 
 the bank so as the side-spurs touch each 
 other ; and as the larch is so durable, and 
 the wood becomes very hard when dried, 
 it will answer the same end. 
 
 This is the best and cheapest fence I 
 
20 
 
 have yet seen, to protect the bottoms of 
 hedges from the browsing of sheep and 
 cattle; and, by projecting outwards a little, 
 it gives both room and light for the lower 
 branches to grow and fill up ; and from 
 being in that position, it prevents the 
 cattle from reaching over to browse, as 
 the sharp ends of the sprags or stakes 
 come in contact with their throats, and 
 will not give way the same as when they 
 are in an upright position ; the lower 
 branches can never grow and expand 
 when stuffed full and close at the bottom 
 with dead browse, which causes hedges to 
 be naked and open at the bottom. 
 
 But, to secure a good and permanent 
 fence in the forest, and to guard against 
 all unforeseen circumstances, we planted 
 a row of quicks on a raised bank, about 
 18 inches high, in the insides of the worst 
 parts of the bank and walls, and after- 
 wards extended it to the greater part of the 
 banks, and where the stones appeared of a 
 bad quality in the walls ; in short, nothing 
 was left undone that appeared necessary to 
 insure the raising up a new forest of oaks. 
 
21 
 
 I have dwelt longer on the subject of 
 fencing than I at first thought I should 
 have had occasion to do ; but as there are 
 great quantities of land in these kingdoms, 
 in very high situations, which would grow 
 timber very well, and as we often hear of 
 the remains of trees having been found 
 where there is no living vestige of a tree 
 to be seen at present, and where, it is 
 thought by some, trees will not thrive 
 on account of the cold and bad soil. 
 
 As the expence of enclosing is a very 
 material objection in such situations, and 
 want of proper materials at hand, I was 
 induced to dwell more at large on the 
 nature of fencing, and to suggest my 
 ideas to obviate the difficulties by point- 
 ing out a cheap and easy way of enclosing 
 such land. 
 
 The earthen banks I have been speak- 
 ' ing of appear to me to furnish the most 
 likely means for enclosing such land, as 
 being at once the cheapest and best ; and if 
 there should be no wood at hand to protect 
 the young whin hedge, heath or broom 
 may be substituted under the uppermost 
 
22 
 
 turf, as I have frequently seen round the 
 rabbit warrens in some parts of Lincoln- 
 shire ; but if the whin is strong enough 
 to adhere to the soil, it is the better, as 
 the ends cf the materials, reaching into 
 or past the middle of the bank, may 
 prevent the whin hedge from thriving ; 
 and there are, I suppose, but few situations 
 where some of these kinds are not to be 
 met with. But whatever material may be 
 used to protect the young whin, it must 
 be so placed that cattle cannot reach to 
 crop it till it becomes a fence. 
 
 
 This plate is a sketch of a hedge of 
 whins upon a low bank, or on the even 
 ground, as may be required ; but it will, by 
 clipping it annually, become so thick that 
 a bird cannot pass through it, much less 
 hares, rabbits, poultry, &c. Would not this 
 kind of fence look well, and make a pleas- 
 
23 
 
 ing variety ? To protect clumps of trees, 
 flowers, single trees, or for other purposes in 
 open lawns or parks, or for the protection 
 of flower or kitchen gardens, when the 
 whin hedge (or it may be termed an ever- 
 green wall decorated with flowers) is in 
 flower, it looks very beautiful ; and, being 
 an ever-green, it has a good effect in the 
 winter months ; besides the warmth and 
 shelter it affords, it would be very orna- 
 mental, and is sooner established than 
 any other hedge whatever. 
 
 From its hardiness, quick growth, and 
 adaptation to any soil or situation, there 
 is no fear of its being choaked, if kept 
 clean at first, and nothing suffered to grow 
 against it to exclude the light. On the 
 outsides there is little danger ; but in the 
 inside there may, without this knowledge 
 and precaution. It may be useful to re- 
 mark, when it is wished to see it in flower, 
 that the clipping may be omitted till it is 
 out of flower. 
 
 The workmen's prices, for making the 
 earthen banks in the forest, were from 
 2s. 6d. to 3s. per rod; and the cutting, 
 
24 
 
 preparing, and making the dead hedge to 
 protect the whins, Is. per rod. The 
 walls were generally made for 8s. per 
 rod, including every thing, such as get- 
 ting the stones, and wheeling, if necessary, 
 a reasonable distance. The prices the 
 fences were contracted for were, the walls 
 at 9s. per rod of 18 feet, the earthen 
 banks at 4s. per rod, statute measure, 16^ 
 feet, and to be kept in repair for three 
 years, except in cases of wilful damage. 
 
 The drains were at first made only 
 15 inches wide at top, 12 inches deep, 
 and very numerous ; but this method was 
 soon found not to answer, as most of the 
 drains, (except the main or carrying drains, 
 which had a good descent,) soon choaked 
 up, and did more harm than good, owing 
 to the grass so soon growing in them, and 
 by the soil thrown into them by the moles 
 in crossing them. The great expence in- 
 curred in looking over and cleaning them 
 out, induced me to think of a cheaper and 
 more effectual method. Accordingly, we 
 had them made both deeper and wider, 
 from 2 feet 6* inches to 3 feet 6 inches 
 
25 
 
 wide at the top, and from 15 inches to 2 
 feet and L l\ feet deep, and about 10 inches 
 or the breadth of a spade wide at the 
 bottom. By enlarging the dimensions, 
 fewer became necessary ; consequently 
 they could be sooner gone over, and 
 cleaned out at a great deal less expence. 
 
 The carrying or main drains are those 
 which convey the water from the cross 
 drains, which, if they have a good descent, 
 need not be made deep, as they will soon 
 wash deep enough. The cross drains 
 should have a tolerably good descent into 
 the others, to clear themselves in heavy 
 rains of any leaves, loose soil, &c. that 
 may be likely to choak them up. 
 
 As to the necessity or utility of having 
 the ground properly drained before it i§ 
 planted, I need say nothing; of that every 
 person of judgment can form a proper 
 opinion ; and as to the manner of doing 
 it, the whole depends so much upon local 
 situation, nature of the soil, and other 
 circumstances, that it must be left 
 entirely to practical experience. 
 
26 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 On planting the Acorn, Seedling, and larger 
 Plants. — Causes of the Failure of the 
 Acorns and Seedlings. — Remarks and 
 Observations thereon. 
 The plan of fencing and draining being 
 now completed, it will be time to think 
 of planting. — The original contract with 
 Messrs Driver was to have the land holed 
 at 4 feet apart each way, the holes to be 
 15 inches square and 9 inches deep, turn- 
 ing the soil upside down previously to 
 paring off the turf, and laying it to one 
 side ; except every tenth hole, which was 
 to be 18 inches square with the turf taken 
 off, and 12 inches deep ; to plant in every 
 tenth hole a strong five-year-old oak, and 
 in every hundredth hole a five-year-old 
 Spanish chesnut ; the rest of the holes to 
 be planted with a sound perfect acorn, 
 except on such parts as should be deemed 
 unfit for the growth of oak ; these places 
 to be planted with ash, elm, beech, or 
 sycamore, with the fir and pine tribes. 
 
But, preferring the four first specified 
 sorts to the fir and pine, where the ground 
 should be thought fit for the growth of 
 such trees, each vacancy that may happen 
 to be made good for three years after it 
 was first planted, with a plant of the re- 
 spective kinds. 
 
 Plants and acorns were accordingly pro- 
 vided and planted, and the holes made 
 agreeable to the contract ; but, after three 
 years trial, we were obliged to desist, and 
 substitute one year's seedling oaks. 
 
 After counting the plants from the 
 acorns (the first year after planting 
 them) in 9000 holes in various places in 
 the different enclosures, we never found 
 more than 40 plants in 100 holes from 
 the acorns, and in some only 3 or 4 plants 
 in 100 holes. On an average of those 
 counted there appeared about 24 in every 
 100 holes, or little more than one fifth, 
 though the greatest care was taken to 
 plant and mend over each hole with a 
 sound good acorn ; but the acorns were 
 taken out by the short-tailed field mouse, 
 rooks, and other vermin. After being 
 
28 
 
 mended over with fresh acorns a season 
 or two, it was no better ; the plants still 
 went off, from various causes which I 
 shall hereafter describe ; and, in some of 
 the holes where the water lodged, the 
 acorns rotted. 
 
 After we had ceased planting acorns, 
 we continued to plant one year's seedling 
 oaks in lieu of acorns, the large plants in 
 every tenth hole the first time over, and 
 to mend over the second year with two 
 years' seedling oaks ; in some cases we 
 missed one year, and made good all 
 failures with a strong three-year-old oak 
 the last time over. 
 
 In some parts of the enclosure, where the 
 plants from the acorns and seedlings had 
 so failed, and the furze, grass, &c. had 
 become so strong before they were finally 
 mended over, and finding it of no use to 
 do so with seedlings, it was agreed to 
 merid all over for the last time with 
 strong four-year-old oaks, about 150 to 
 an acre, to plant that quantity according 
 to the number of acres such enclosure 
 contained, but to plant them on the 
 
29 
 
 barest places, as some parts were suffici- 
 ently stocked with what had been planted 
 and what came naturally, this quantity 
 being considered quite sufficient to stock 
 the enclosure according to the spirit of 
 Mr Driver's contract. 
 
 On finding how fast the fern, furze, 
 grass, and such shrubs as birch, broom, &c. 
 increased after the enclosures were shut 
 in, and the impossibility of procuring 
 five-year-old plants so fast as they were 
 wanted to plant such vast tracts of land 
 so soon as it was got ready, rather than 
 defer such a duty a year or two till the 
 plants arrived at that age and size (because 
 size was a material object) it was agreed 
 to plant strong and good three and four- 
 year-old oaks, instead of the five-year 
 oaks, in every tenth hole, while the holes 
 could be distinguished, or we must have 
 planted it with seedlings, and left the 
 tenth hole implanted for a year or two, 
 which could not have been so regularly 
 filled up with large plants afterwards. 
 
 The Forest of Dean is a hilly district, 
 some of the hills of considerable elevation, 
 
30 
 
 with flat and low grounds between them. 
 On some parts of the most lofty hills we 
 planted fir, ash, elm, sycamore, with 
 the oak and Spanish chesnut interspersed 
 amongst them, which succeeded very well 
 indeed on the dry ground ; but where the 
 soil was wet they did not succeed at first, 
 although the ground was drained ; but as 
 the turf was taken off about an inch or an 
 inch and a half thick with the mattock or 
 holing instrument, it left the hole when 
 the soil had settled that depth below the 
 surface of the unstirred ground ; when of 
 a retentive nature, the holes were full of 
 water all the winter, and when we came 
 to plant in the spring with the mixture 
 of plants, we could not fasten them, as 
 the soil was like a puddle, and the first 
 high wind that came would loosen the 
 plants. 
 
 When the dry weather set in, the soil 
 would become hard and crack, and expose 
 the roots to the dry cutting frosty winds 
 that generally prevail at that season of 
 the year ; if planted in the early part of 
 the season it was worse, as the frost in 
 
31 
 
 that case would heave them out of the 
 ground, and expose the roots to the sun 
 and winds ; of course, what were not 
 killed made but little progress, nay, were 
 scarcely kept alive. This was the case in 
 all the wet ground planted with nothing 
 but oak, as well as those planted with 
 the mixture of trees. The wind had not 
 so much effect upon the oak and other 
 deciduous kinds, as it had upon the ever- 
 green firs ; but the seedlings, that were 
 planted in the early part of the season, 
 were thrown out by thousands in all the 
 wet parts of the ground. 
 
 Something however must be done to 
 obviate this and other difficulties, or all 
 the labour and expence would be thrown 
 away, besides the disagreeable feeling 
 arising from the failure of attempts so 
 earnestly made. On this principle I 
 suggested to the commissioners the idea 
 of raising the holes for the plants above 
 the original surface, to throw off the wet 
 from the roots ; a plan of which they 
 approved, and which they ordered to be 
 done, by taking a spade-full of good earth 
 
32 
 
 from the dry ground to each hole ; but 
 this I soon found to be both tedious and 
 expensive, and not affording soil sufficient 
 to answer the purpose. I then suggested 
 another method, which was as instantly- 
 adopted, which answered a two-fold pur- 
 pose, and succeeded beyond my most 
 sanguine expectations, being of much 
 importance in all wet land, particularly 
 where the fir and pine tribes were planted. 
 
 Instead of holing the ground where it 
 had not been previously holed, the lines 
 were laid down, as usual, at 4 feet apart, 
 a good turf 16 or 18 inches square, as 
 thick as the soil would admit, from 7 to 
 9 inches, laid with the grass-side down- 
 wards, at 4 feet apart each way where the 
 holes would have been made. 
 
 The turfs were cut in rows, to commu- 
 nicate with the drains ; one row thus cut 
 will raise the holes for about three rows 
 of plants, which, if properly done, will 
 carry off the water into the drains ; some 
 of them may be made into drains at a 
 trifling expence. Thus the raising of the 
 holes and draining the ground were done 
 
33 
 
 at nearly one expenee, and by this method 
 the ground is left a great deal drier, no 
 water being capable of settling about the 
 roots of the plants, affording at the same 
 time a stratum of soil as thick again as 
 the original ; and, by being laid down 
 a few months before planting, the two 
 swards rot, and the sod becomes firmly 
 fixed, so that they can be planted with 
 the greatest ease without disturbing the 
 sod ; part of the roots will also be just 
 within the original surface, and the rich 
 soil, produced by the rotting of the two 
 swards, affords a fine pabulum for the 
 roots of the plants during the two first 
 years, when they stand in so much need 
 of it, preventing also their being loosened 
 and thrown out of the ground by the 
 frosts or winds, as the soil about the roots 
 is always dry and kindly, the same as if 
 planted in the driest soils. 
 
 The effects were indeed so great, that 
 I could safely recommend the plan to be 
 acted upon in all wet ground, as it can be 
 done with nearly the same expenee as 
 draining, the plants thriving exceedingly 
 
34 
 
 well, and the other advantages almost 
 incalculable. 
 
 Mr Driver's men holed the soil in the 
 common way, only not so deep as before 
 laying on the sods; but I do not think 
 this mode necessary, as it is attended 
 with more trouble and expence, and robs 
 the plant of part of the rich soil, by 
 removing the turf where the hole and 
 plant are to be. — I had several acres done 
 in the way I have recommended for large 
 five-year-old oaks, which was attended with 
 the greatest success, without the loss of 
 scarce a plant, the whole taking to the 
 soil, and thriving in an extraordinary 
 degree. 
 
 Before we fell upon this plan, the 
 plants where it had been planted on such 
 cold wet lands, particularly where the fir 
 tribe were planted, had failed, and we 
 raised all such holes with a large square 
 turf, planting it over again, and the effects 
 were astonishing. Another benefit at- 
 tending it was, the plants were not so 
 soon encroached upon by the grass, &c. 
 
 The raising of oak woods from plant- 
 
ing, or sowing the acorn in the place it is 
 to remain till the tree comes to maturity, 
 has been a favourite theory with specu- 
 lative men for ages. The plan has 
 been tried upon an extensive scale in 
 his Majesty's Forest of Dean, and in the 
 New Forest in Hampshire, which latter 
 was begun to be planted about the same 
 time as Dean Forest, and some other 
 smaller forests belonging to the Crown in 
 different parts of the kingdom. 
 
 Whether the acorns were tried in any 
 of the other forests, I do not know ; but 
 as the experiment was made upon such 
 an extensive scale in these two principal 
 forests, and being found impracticable, I 
 flatter myself I may render some service, 
 or at least some information, to those 
 persons who may still entertain the opini- 
 on, or who think the oak will make a tree 
 sooner or better from the acorn than a 
 transplanted oak, by pointing out the 
 reasons of that method failing of its 
 objects in his Majesty's Forests, and the 
 probability, or rather certainty, of a trans- 
 planted oak making a tree as large or 
 
36 
 
 larger, and in less time, than a tree from 
 the acorn, sown or planted in the place 
 where it is intended finally to remain. 
 
 I have before stated, that the short- 
 tailed or field mouse, the rooks, and vari- 
 ous vermin, took the acorns out of the 
 holes, and caused a great deficiency in the 
 plants at first coming up ; but of the de- 
 structive ravages of that little animal, the 
 field mouse, I was not so well aware till 
 two years after I had been in the Forest, 
 and the third from the commencement 
 of planting it with acorns. In making 
 my survey of the state of the enclosures 
 and plants for the information of the 
 commissioners, I had frequently observed 
 great quantities of the small oak plants 
 from the acorn having been barked and 
 bitten off, particularly where the grass 
 was thick ; and nearly all the ash that 
 had been planted in the wet and moist 
 grounds (for some ash had been planted 
 in those situations) were barked all round 
 the stem in the same manner as the oaks, 
 only more so, as they seemed to be fonder 
 of the ash than the oak bark. We all 
 
37 
 
 thought it was the hares that did the 
 mischief, although at that time there 
 were very few hares in the plantations ; 
 but still we found vast quantities barked 
 and bitten off, and always so near to the 
 ground, about 5 or 6 inches high. 
 
 In the Autumn of 1812 that circum- 
 stance struck me forcibly, so much so, that 
 I was induced to examine more minutely; 
 when I was not a little surprised to find, 
 at almost every plant so barked or nibbled, 
 great quantities of very small dung, much 
 less than hare's dung, but something simi- 
 lar in its appearance ; I thought of course 
 it must be the field mouse, which we soon 
 found too true. 
 
 Having before observed, where the 
 grass and other herbage were thick and 
 rank the plants were chiefly barked, but 
 where the stem of the plant stood clear of 
 herbage of any kind, the plants were scarce 
 ever touched ; this is worthy of remark, 
 and very natural, for without shelter they 
 would have been more exposed to their 
 natural enemies the hawk, owl, &c. and, 
 like most other mischief, it must be done 
 
38 
 
 in the dark. Some of the small seedlings 
 were barked all round the stem, as high 
 as the mice could reach ; others only in 
 part, but much nibbled, and great quanti- 
 ties bitten off; and as the plants were des- 
 titute of leaves, and the rank grass getting 
 above them and excluding the light, the 
 greater part were soon killed, wherever 
 the grass or other herbage was rank. 
 
 Before the Autumn of 1813 the mice 
 had become so numerous, that we could 
 pick up four or five plants of the larger or 
 five-year-old oaks on a very small space of 
 ground, all bitten off, just within the 
 ground, between the roots and the stem ; 
 and not only were the oak and ash injured, 
 but the elm, sycamore, and Spanish ches- 
 nut, of which the mice are not so fond as 
 of the two former. 
 
 Of the hollies that had been cut down 
 great quantities of young shoots had 
 sprung up from the stools, were looking 
 very well, and making a fine shelter, as 
 we thought at the time, perhaps thirty or 
 forty shoots from a stool or old root ; 
 these were nearly all destroyed in one 
 
39 
 
 winter, by the mice barking them in the 
 very same manner as the oak and ash ; 
 nor did the crabs, willows, nor even the 
 strong shoots of the furze, escape their 
 ravages ; they appeared to feed very much 
 on the young shoots of the furze or whin ; 
 and I have seen hollies, as thick as a man's 
 leg, barked all round, and as high in the 
 bush as 4 or 5 feet from the ground. 
 This was in some thick bushes, where 
 were plenty of leaves and old stumps to 
 shelter them when at their mischievous 
 work. The willows were barked every 
 branch, to the height of 3 or 4 feet from 
 the ground, when they grew in thick 
 shelter of any kind. 
 
 In fact the grass, in some of the small 
 encroachments from the Forest in the 
 occupation of the inhabitants, was very 
 much destroyed by them, particularly the 
 seeds or artificial grasses, and the people 
 were frequently remarking how their 
 crops of hay suffered from the depreda- 
 tions of the mice. Indeed, if I had not 
 seen it, I should not have thought it 
 possible. — The long grass in the enclo- 
 
40 
 
 sures, when it got laid after completing its 
 Summer's growth, in which state it smo- 
 thered, and helped, with the mice, to 
 destroy the plants, looked like a riddle, 
 comparatively speaking. 
 
 The mice had now become so numerous 
 and destructive, that, when Lord Glenber- 
 vie was in the Forest in the Autumn of 
 1813, he became so alarmed about the 
 final success of raising a forest, that he 
 soon after wrote a letter to the deputy- 
 surveyor, instructing him to pursue every 
 means we could think of, by cats, dogs, 
 owls, poison, traps, or any method that 
 could be devised, even to cutting up all 
 the grass and fog by the roots, offering a 
 reward at the same time to any one that 
 could find out the most effectual way of 
 destroying them. No expence was to be 
 an obstacle, even if the cost was more 
 than had been expended on the enclosing, 
 holing, and planting ; so anxious was his 
 Lordship for the success of the under- 
 taking ! 
 
 Operations were immediately commen- 
 ced, with traps, baits of various kinds, 
 
41 
 
 with poison, and with dogs and cats, but 
 all with little success, so extensive are the 
 plantations. — At length a person hit upon 
 a very simple, and, eventually, a very effi- 
 cacious mode. Having, in digging a hole 
 in the ground some time previous, observ- 
 ed that a mouse or mice had got in and 
 could not get out again, the idea was 
 suggested to him, that, by digging holes 
 of a similar form, he might succeed. He 
 tried accordingly, and found it to answer. 
 The holes for catching the mice were 
 made from 18 inches to 2 feet long, 16 or 
 18 inches deep, about 10 inches or the 
 breadth of a spade at the top, 14 or 15 
 inches wide at the bottom, and 3 or 4 
 inches longer at the bottom than the top. 
 If the ground was firm, the better ; some 
 holes were made in a circular form, but 
 this was only a work of fancy, which cost 
 more trouble than the oblong holes, as 
 either sort answered, provided they were 
 well made, the sides firm and even, and 
 3 or 4 inches wider every way at the 
 bottom than at the top, otherwise the 
 mice would run up the sides and get out 
 
42 
 
 again* if they could find any footing. 
 But, if well made, when they were once 
 in they could not get out again ; and, 
 what is very extraordinary, they would 
 really eat each other when left long in 
 the holes ! 
 
 Most of the mice were caught in the 
 latter end of the year, and, what is rather 
 singular, in the course of a wet or stormy 
 night we always caught the greatest 
 quantity ;on the contrary, in calm, dry, 
 or frosty nights, very few entered the 
 holes ; but, generally, most were caught 
 when the holes were fresh made. Baits 
 of various kinds were put in the holes to 
 draw them, but without any visible effect, 
 as the holes without the baits caught full 
 as many ; what attracted them in we could 
 never tell, whether the smell of the fresh 
 earth, or what other cause, we could only 
 conjecture. We have taken 15 in a hole 
 in one night. Sometimes the holes were 
 made in the drains, where there was not 
 a constant run of water, as the mice 
 appeared to run along the drains, and a 
 great many were caught in those holes. 
 
43 
 
 The people who made the holes of 
 course looked after the mice, and were 
 paid for them by the dozen. They were 
 obliged to attend to the holes, to take 
 them out very early in the mornings, 
 otherwise the crows, magpies, hawks, owls, 
 weasels, and other vermin, attended very 
 regularly, and made the first seizure. — 
 Several of these depredators were caught 
 in the fact, the men dropping on them 
 so suddenly, that great quantities were 
 taken out and never accounted for. We 
 soon caught upwards of thirty thousand, 
 that were paid for by number, as a person 
 or two were appointed to take an account 
 of them and see them buried, or made 
 away with, to prevent imposition. 
 
 The holes for the mice were made at 
 20 yards apart each way, over a surface of 
 about 3200 acres. — In the beginning of 
 1814, was a heavy fall of snow, which, it 
 is very probable, must have destroyed 
 great quantities of them ; for, with what 
 were caught and killed by the different 
 ways, added to the severe and long-conti- 
 nued storm, but little damage was done by 
 them for two or three years afterwards. 
 
44 
 
 And here I cannot but admire the 
 goodness of that Almighty Providence 
 that watcheth over all his works, and 
 "from seeming evil still educing good," 
 for these severe winters seem to have had 
 the effect of destroying and keeping under 
 various of those noxious tribes of animals 
 or insects, that would otherwise render 
 most of our field labours vain and useless, 
 were there no other means of checking 
 their increase and progress but what we 
 poor puny mortals know or possess ! 
 
 Since I have been at Chopwell, previous 
 to the great snow in 1823, the mice were 
 pretty numerous, and had done consider- 
 able damage, by biting off several very 
 large oaks ; and though after that winter 
 I found none for two years, yet I per- 
 ceived they were again increasing. 
 
 It is said by naturalists, that the beaver 
 will fell trees with his teeth ; but I have 
 never seen an account of mice felling oak 
 trees, yet have I found oak trees cut down 
 by them of 7 and 8 feet high, and an inch 
 and half in diameter at the place bitten 
 off, which was just at the root, as before 
 
45 
 
 noticed. When examining for the thick 
 part of the root below where it was bitten 
 off, I could never find any part of it left, 
 so that it is very probable it must have 
 been eaten by them ; but whether this 
 sort of food was softer or more palatable 
 than the part exposed to the atmosphere, 
 I cannot tell ; perhaps Sir H. Davy, or 
 some other able chemist, with a proper 
 apparatus, could ascertain the fact. 
 
 I have by me at this time several of the 
 large plants, before described, that were 
 bitten off by the mice, and among them 
 a large beech, for the inspection of any 
 gentleman or naturalist, who may be de- 
 sirous of witnessing, with his own eyes, 
 the wonderful power of so diminutive a 
 creature as the mouse in felling trees. 
 
 Ants I also found very destructive 
 enemies to plants wherever they abound- 
 ed, which they unfortunately did on many 
 parts of that old uncultivated land in the 
 forest ; for the ant hillocks, on some parts, 
 were very numerous, and on such parts the 
 plants were sure to be killed, or never 
 throve or made any growth. The roots, 
 
46 
 
 when examined, appeared cankered and 
 unhealthy, and to the smell were some- 
 thing like fetid fungus. 
 
 Whether the ants extracted the juices 
 from the roots only, or from both roots 
 and stems, I do not know ; but the plants 
 never throve where the ants were, but 
 died away in a few years. Even the whins 
 sown on the banks for the fences, when- 
 ever the ants got into the banks at the 
 roots of the whins, the plants were sure 
 to be killed, and we had to dig out soil and 
 ants all together, and supply fresh soil, 
 seeds, or plants, before we could get them 
 to grow. 
 
 To destroy the ants, we opened their 
 hillocks in the depth of winter ; and 
 throwing all the inside of those hillocks 
 about in the frost and snow, appeared to 
 me the cheapest and surest way to destroy 
 them. Great quantities of plants were 
 lost by the ravages of these insects. 
 
 Another cause of such small plants 
 being destroyed was by the frosts heaving 
 them out in all the wet and clayey ground ; 
 even the five-year-old oaks and chesnuts 
 
ir 
 
 were thrown out, and I was under the 
 necessity of having some turf put round 
 each large plant in such wet holes at the 
 time of planting them, (before we adopted 
 the plan of raising the holes) which proved 
 a great preventive of the plants being so 
 thrown out by the frost. — But, as the 
 seedlings were planted by the dibble or 
 setting stick, we were obliged to leave 
 them to their fate; such ground, howe- 
 ver, we generally left till towards March, 
 and planted all the dry ground in the 
 early part of the season ; but even this 
 was attended with an extra expence to 
 the contractor, by having to go over part 
 of the ground, and to the same places, 
 twice ; but, after the plan of raising the 
 holes was adopted, we could plant all 
 kinds of land at any season. 
 
 Great quantities often died, owing to 
 the frosts that so frequently happen in 
 the Spring and Summer months. After 
 the plants come into leaf, being so low 
 and on a level, or rather below the level, 
 of the grass and fog, the old dead grass is 
 termed fog in the forest; the frost has 
 
48 
 
 such an effect upon the plants below the 
 level of that fog, that frequently the 
 young shoots and leaves of the small 
 plants have been killed by it, when the 
 plants of 3 or 4 feet high, and that stood 
 above it, have not been injured at all, 
 except in the lower branches among the 
 fern, grass, &c When newly planted 
 trees lose their leaves at that time, before 
 they have made any roots, they are very 
 apt to be killed ; indeed they hardly ever 
 recover. This is assuredly a strong reason 
 against small plants being planted in low 
 moist situations, or where the herbage is 
 rank and strong. I have seen the same 
 effects upon the higher ground, but not 
 so common. 
 
 In the nurseries in the same enclosures, 
 and on the same elevation, which were 
 kept clean from grass and weeds, the 
 small plants were not injured at all by 
 the same frosts that killed the young 
 shoots and leaves of the plants among 
 the fog and grass ; this, I should think, 
 affords a good hint to keep the nurseries 
 of tender plants entirely free from weeds 
 and grass. 
 
49 
 
 As the oak is a long time in most 
 situations before it establishes itself in 
 the ground, to be able to make a vigorous 
 shoot, and to cope with the rank grass, 
 fern, &c. small plants have but a poor 
 chance to succeed. Wherever the land 
 is rich, the plants will make an effort in 
 the Spring months, if not destroyed by 
 frosts, to make a few leaves to keep them 
 alive ; but before the end of Summer, 
 when they should make the autumnal 
 shoot, the grass, fern, or other herbage, 
 has got quite over them, the grass falls 
 down upon them, kills the leaves and the 
 young shoots, and affords a fine shelter 
 for the mice to finish them ; and where 
 strong fern abounds, it falls down with 
 the first heavy snow, and does the same 
 business for them as the grass and other 
 herbage. 
 
 If any plant should escape the first year, 
 the next Spring the remaining plants will 
 make fresh efforts to produce leaves and 
 branches, but the same effects ensue with 
 increased means, as the grass, fern, &c. 
 
 G 
 
50 
 
 get stronger and taller every year ; and 
 the plants weaker, till they finally die. 
 
 This became so serious in the Forest, 
 that we were obliged to have the grass 
 cleared from the plants for several years, 
 and a sum of upwards of s§1900 was paid 
 to Mr Driver, during his contract, for 
 clearing the grass from the small plants, to 
 prevent them being smothered. This is 
 a serious expence if it can be avoided^ 
 which in a great measure it may, by sub- 
 stituting larger plants. Very large sums 
 were also expended for cutting the fern 
 in the enclosures ; for after he had fulfilled 
 his contract, the sum of upwards of J=264> 
 was paid in one season for cutting fern, 
 to save the plants from being killed by it. 
 
 What was paid in other seasons I can- 
 not tell, as I have not the accounts ; but 
 it must have been very considerable, as it 
 was obliged to be followed up for several 
 years. Fern gathers strength very fast, if 
 it is neglected to be cut ; and will soon 
 get, where it is sheltered, to 6 or 7 feet 
 high ; and when such a mass falls down 
 upon small plants, what chance have they 
 
51 
 
 ever to get up again, if it is not cut from 
 them ? Cutting it in July or August 
 weakens it very much, or after it is got 
 out of the curl, that is when all the lobes 
 of the leaves are fully expanded, and be- 
 fore or about the time it has done grow- 
 ing, as it is then in a succulent state and 
 bleeds, which perhaps weakens it ; if it is 
 cut too soon, it will require going over 
 again the same season, which occasions a 
 greater expence, and does not appear to 
 weaken it more than that which was cut 
 in July ; and if it is left till late in the 
 season, it will not weaken it for another. 
 
 In four of the enclosures, which con- 
 tained about 1700 acres, we estimated 
 that 200,000 of the five-year-old oaks that 
 were planted had been destroyed by the 
 mice, besides the immense quantities 
 from the acorns and seedlings. Mr Dri- 
 ver charged for 300,000 plants destroyed 
 by mice in those four enclosures, besides 
 what were destroyed from the same cause 
 in others where no estimate or charge 
 was made. 
 
 From the foregoing facts it will appear, 
 
52 
 
 that the experiment of raising a forest of 
 oak from acorns, planted where they were 
 intended to remain to become timber 
 without being transplanted, was fairly 
 tried, upon an extensive scale, and has 
 completely failed. Nearly the same faiL 
 ure, I understood, occured in the New 
 Forest as in Dean Forest, and about the 
 same time. 
 
 Some persons have imagined that such 
 plants would make better trees and soon- 
 er ; but this I believe is an opinon with- 
 out facts to support it. A great deal is 
 also said about an oak having a tap-root, 
 and the injury it sustains by breaking it 
 in transplanting ; but have not most other 
 trees a tap-root when raised from the seed? 
 And as a tree increases in size from the 
 multiplicity of its leaves and branches (as 
 I shall hereafter show from actual experi- 
 ment) consequently it must derive some 
 good from the multiplicity of its roots. 
 By shortening the main root, the tree is 
 disposed to throw out a greater number 
 of strong roots in every direction, to seek, 
 as it were, after nutriment, if indeed the 
 
53 
 
 roots do take in all or part of the nutri- 
 ment to support the tree, or to assist the 
 leaves in their functions ; and as to the 
 tap-root penetrating into soils and rocks 
 for nutriment, those lateral roots may be 
 easily supposed to do the same offices as 
 the tap-root. Then, instead of one tap- 
 root, you have, perhaps, half a dozen or 
 more main roots, in every direction, seek- 
 ing food, which I presume must tend to 
 increase the tree faster than only one 
 main root. 
 
 But oak trees are known to grow to as 
 great a size and as good timber, where the 
 roots cannot penetrate deep into the earth 
 from the under stratum ; as I have seen 
 them upon a sandy under stratum, upon 
 very poor soils, or rocks that lay in hori- 
 zontal layers, and upon hard grit and sand 
 stones, where the roots have been found 
 to run along the surface of the rocks with 
 scarce any soil at all ; yet this timber was 
 reckoned as good, and perhaps better, than 
 that which grew in the richest soils, or 
 where it is supposed to derive its support, 
 by the roots, from some unknown depths 
 and causes in the earth or rocks. 
 
54 
 
 But when we see forest-trees arrive to 
 nearly the same perfection on lands with 
 under strata of qualities of opposite ex- 
 tremes, does it not appear probable that 
 the trees must be supplied with nutriment 
 from some other source than their roots, 
 or else why talk of the goodness or quali- 
 ties of soils for forest-trees ? 
 
 I have somewhere seen an account 
 which states, that the mahogany trees, 
 which grow to such an immense size, fre- 
 quently thrive upon bare rocks only, their 
 roots penetrating into the clefts of the 
 rock ; but of the nature of those rocks my 
 information did not state ; and as the rains 
 are periodical in those climates, or perhaps 
 but little rain at all, it might be asked, 
 how are such immense trees supplied with 
 nutriment to increase to that amazing 
 size ? Surely not by the few roots in the 
 clefts of the rocks ; but not having ever 
 been in those countries, I must leave this 
 subject to those who have better opportu- 
 nities to ascertain and pursue the inquiry 
 further. 
 
 The large fir trees in Sweden and Nor- 
 
55 
 
 way, it is well understood, thrive upon a 
 very thin sandy soil, on barren rocks ; as 
 does also the Scotch fir, upon sands near 
 the sea coast, where nothing else would 
 grow. These trees arrive to a vast bulk, 
 but not, I should suppose, from what they 
 can derive by their roots from the barren 
 rocks and sands. To me, therefore, it 
 appears almost conclusive that some kinds 
 of forest-trees, if not all, must derive their 
 nutriment by their leaves, which perhaps 
 are peculiarly adapted by nature to absorb 
 more or less of the different gases that are 
 afloat in the atmosphere, according to their 
 different natures, and which have been 
 proved to be absorbed by vegetables, and 
 to be the food of plants ; because it ap- 
 pears very probable, that different plants 
 are formed with different organs or leaves 
 to draw in and modify their food, which 
 causes that endless variety we see in the 
 vegetable kingdom, both in flowers and 
 fruits ; and we see nothing resembling 
 leaves on the roots of trees, nor is it pro- 
 bable there can be the variety of gases in 
 the earth and rocks as in the atmosphere 
 
56 
 
 to constitute that variety. — Might not the 
 gases be more abundant in some situations 
 than in others ? Does any gas arise from 
 the sea, and is it from thence carried to 
 the adjacent land, for the support of vege- 
 tation ? It seems very probable that such 
 are amongst the other wonderful opera- 
 tions of nature. 
 
 We often hear of the existence of 
 forests, where no living vestige of a forest 
 at present remains. If such places were 
 enclosed and planted with Scotch, larch, 
 or any of the fir tribe that would grow in 
 those situations, added to the annual de- 
 cay of the leaves of the firs or other trees 
 that may be planted in them, with the 
 decay of the leaves of such vegetables as 
 the warmth of the plantations would in- 
 crease ; all these causes might produce 
 gas for the support of the living plants, 
 and perhaps even the trees might arrest 
 it in its progress through the air from 
 places where it is produced in abundance, 
 but where plants are not sufficiently nu- 
 merous to consume it. 
 
 It appears to me very probable, that 
 
57 
 
 the reason why the Spring and autumnal 
 months are more unhealthy than the 
 depth of Winter, in frost and snow, is, 
 that the decay of vegetable, gaseous, and 
 other matter, which produces the noxious 
 vapour, is more rapid at those seasons 
 than in the Winter ; and as the leaves of 
 trees are past performing their functions 
 in the autumnal months, and in the Spring 
 are not enough advanced to absorb the 
 superabundant noxious gases that are pro- 
 duced and afloat in the air at those sea- 
 sons, is the cause, I think, that those pe- 
 riods are generally the most sickly ; and 
 perhaps those noxious and deadly vapours, 
 which we read of as prevailing in the de- 
 serts of Africa and some other countries 
 in the torrid zone, may arise principally 
 from the want of a sufficient vegetation 
 to absorb them. 
 
 But to return to my subject. The soil 
 is not of such consequence to forest-trees 
 as is generally thought, if we can only get 
 firs to grow ; oaks, I believe, and other de- 
 ciduous trees, would grow equally well or 
 better after they were established in the 
 
58 
 
 ground, and, by taking out the firs gradu- 
 ally, fine woods of oak and other timber 
 may be raised in almost any situation in 
 these kingdoms. 
 
 I have seen many instances of fine oak, 
 elm, ash, sycamore, and other trees, which 
 were healthy and vigorous in very exposed 
 and bleak situations, but which, perhaps, 
 would never have been raised without the 
 aid of the fir tribe at first. When the firs 
 were turning mossy, and seemed to be 
 getting into a sickly stunted state, and 
 were nearly done growing, these trees, 
 where they had not been stunted and in- 
 jured by the firs in their infancy, appear- 
 ed to have had room to grow from the 
 first. 
 
 I would always plant the deciduous 
 trees at the same time as the fir tribe, 
 that the firs may not get the lead of them 
 too much, and as the oak and other trees 
 are so much longer before they begin to 
 grow. On all the slopes or steeps of the 
 hills in the Forest the oaks did not appear 
 to require any shelter, as they grew very 
 well with the natural shelter of the hill 
 
59 
 
 and what under-growth there was ; but in 
 the plains and on the tops of hills thev 
 required shelter, and the fir tribe seems 
 best adapted of any for that purpose, if 
 properly managed and taken out in time, 
 otherwise they are the worst enemies. 
 The growth of oaks is astonishing when 
 sheltered a little in their infancy, and till 
 they are large enough to shelter each 
 other. 
 
 In the lower or moist situations shelter 
 for the oaks is equally necessary, and per- 
 haps more so, to protect them from the 
 frosts that injure them in the Spring and 
 Autumn while in a growing state, when 
 their shoots are extremely tender. I have 
 frequently seen the young shoots, in such 
 situations, killed three or four times 
 through the Spring and Autumn months, 
 although some tall fine trees were never 
 touched, that were above the fog, as the 
 damp atmosphere which rises in such 
 situations mounts only to certain heights, 
 and which causes the frost to act so upon 
 the tender vegetables or young shoots of 
 trees. 
 
60 
 
 In one low damp situation, planted in 
 1809 with oak and Spanish chesnuts, and 
 where the land was very good, we were, in 
 1818, under the necessity of planting firs 
 in all the open parts to nurse them up, 
 as the plants were continually kept in a 
 stunted shabby state, from the frequent 
 frosts that happened while the plants 
 were making their young shoots. In the 
 open parts, where there was no shelter, 
 the plants were only from about 3 to 4 or 
 5 feet high in all that time ; whereas, just 
 above the level of that damp atmosphere 
 on the rising grounds, the plants were 10 
 or 12 feet high, as were also some in the 
 same level where they happened to be 
 sheltered by alders or other undergrowth. 
 
 Without shelter, I believe, in those low 
 situations, oaks and chesnuts would hardly 
 ever get up, unless the plants were 10 or 
 12 feet high when planted, which might 
 readily be done with success in those deep 
 and rich soils, if plants were properly 
 raised in a nursery for them, but not so 
 soon from the natural or those taken out 
 of woods, with only one tap-root and few 
 or no side-branches upon them. 
 
61 
 
 I have had opportunities of observing 
 the beneficial effects arising from the shel- 
 ter afforded by the firs to the oaks and 
 chesnuts, in two or three low and wet 
 places in one of the enclosures, where 
 some firs had been planted among the 
 oaks, before we adopted the plan of filling 
 up with firs the low ground I have been 
 speaking of. 
 
 The alder is a good nurse in those situ- 
 ations, if the ground is very wet, and the 
 water remains in it most of the Winter ; 
 but as it is a very spreading tree, the 
 branches should be shortened, in the 
 manner I shall hereafter describe, when 
 they may be left to grow till the oaks are 
 10 or 12 feet high, and till the alders will 
 be fit for pit props, glass posts, or any 
 other purpose they can be put to at that 
 size ; if the branches are not shortened, 
 they spread and overtop the oaks, and 
 prevent them getting up, so that the re- 
 medy is worse than the disease. 
 
 I am inclined to think the firs arrest 
 and check the frosts better than the 
 alders ; I therefore would prefer them ; 
 
62 
 
 but, to insure their growth, the land must 
 be well drained, and the places intended 
 to be planted should be raised above the 
 level of the surface, in the manner I have 
 described before. As the firs, particularly 
 the larch, will not thrive, nay, will scarcely 
 live, where the water lodges in the soil all 
 the Winter, the branches of the firs must 
 be shortened, to prevent them from inju- 
 ring and over-topping the oaks or other 
 wood, when they may be suffered to grow 
 as nurses till the oaks are 12 or 14 feet 
 high, at which time the nurses should be 
 all removed, not all at once, but gradually, 
 when they will leave a fine wood of most 
 valuable timber. 
 
 From the foregoing observations it will 
 appear, that there can be no general rule 
 for the size of plants, as that must depend 
 upon local circumstances and peculiar si- 
 tuations. Upon all high and poor lands, 
 where the grass or other herbage is not 
 strong, nor likely to become so after it is 
 enclosed, strong plants, from 12 to 18 
 inches or 2 feet, are the best size. In 
 land of a richer quality, that abounds 
 
63 
 
 with more and stronger herbage, plants 
 of 4 or 5 years growth, and from 2^ to 3 
 or 3tV feet high, ought to be planted ; and 
 in very low rich soils, abounding with 
 strong rank herbage, plants of a larger 
 growth (excepting the fir tribe) should be 
 planted, and not small plants indiscrimi- 
 nately, as is generally the case when 
 planted on contract by nursery-men. 
 Gentlemen are apt to suppose nursery-men 
 understand more of planting than others; 
 but perhaps this is not a safe rule to be 
 guided by, for it is not impossible but 
 self-interest may sometimes influence 
 their opinions and recommendations. 
 They may understand very well how to 
 raise and manage plants in a nursery, but 
 when they come to be taken out and 
 planted in such opposite extremes of soils 
 and situations, with their after-manage- 
 ment, I much question whether their 
 knowledge is entirely to be depended up- 
 on, or is superior to that of others who 
 may have had more practical knowledge. 
 By planting very small plants in such 
 situations, a great loss of plants is fre- 
 
64 
 
 quently the case, as also the loss of time, 
 which is of much greater consequence, 
 when the plants do not live or thrive pro- 
 perly ; besides the great additional ex- 
 pence in clearing them from the rubbish, 
 which would inevitably destroy or injure 
 them ; on these accounts the grass, weeds, 
 or whatever else may present an obstacle 
 to the growth, should be carefully cut 
 away, or beat down from the plants. If 
 the plants are strong and large, they are 
 easily seen, will not so soon be overtopped, 
 and but little time need be lost in looking 
 for the plants among the rubbish. A 
 person may clear three or four large 
 plants while he is looking for one of the 
 small ones, which must make a material 
 difference in the expence, besides allowing 
 more time to do the work in before the 
 herbage, whatever it may be, attains its 
 full growth ; and, generally, such work 
 cannot be done all at once, but gradually, 
 as the people employed get accustomed 
 to it ; nor is it so well to set fresh hands 
 on, nor should very old people be employ- 
 ed, when their sight begins to fail them, 
 
65 
 
 for they may soon do more harm than 
 good. 
 
 Having seen such baneful effects from 
 the neglect and erroneous management 
 of plantations in the first periods of their 
 growth, I shall endeavour to point out 
 more fully the ruinous and almost reme- 
 diless consequences of such neglect and 
 mismanagement, and the benefit and 
 pleasure that may be derived from the 
 contrary practice. 
 
 To shew more fully the difficulties that 
 occurred in planting the Forest, from the 
 failure of plants by the various causes be- 
 fore enumerated, I should have stated 
 that, after Mr Driver had finally com- 
 pleted his contract by planting and mend- 
 ing over all failures for three years in each 
 enclosure, we had provided, in the differ- 
 ent nurseries in the Forest, to fill up 
 such vacancies as might afterwards occur, 
 and to plant some more land that had 
 been purchased and attached to the Fo- 
 rest for growing navy timber. 
 
 In the year 1818 there were growing, 
 in the different nurseries for the aforesaid 
 
66 
 
 purposes, 4,099,000 oaks, and 888,000 
 plants of other kinds, viz. firs of sorts, 
 ash, elm, Spanish chesnut, &c. making 
 a total of 4,927,000 plants ; and. by a 
 Statement made to the commissioners in 
 October 18521, the vacancies were at that 
 time very extensive, as the plants wanted 
 to complete the enclosures in Dean Forest 
 were :?,<>• 5,000 ; to complete the enclo- 
 sures, not to plant fresh ones; L',000,000 
 of which were planted the following sea- 
 son, and the rest as soon as the plants 
 arrived at a proper size. This was four 
 years after the last of the enclosures had 
 been completed according to the contract. 
 These facts should operate as a caution 
 to gentlemen who form plantations, to 
 plant, at first, proper sized plants accord- 
 ing to different circumstances, to insure 
 the success of the first planted trees as 
 much as possible, by taking every precau- 
 tion to prevent them from being destroy- 
 ed or injured afterwards, as every filling 
 up is attended with a heavy expence, be- 
 sides the loss of time, which is the great- 
 est loss in the growth of plantations, and 
 should be avoided as much as possible. 
 
<>7 
 
 In the thinning of plantations, where 
 the plants are too thick, it may be desira- 
 ble sometimes to tal^e up a few trees of a 
 large size to make a small plantation as 
 quick as possible, to hide some particular 
 object, for clumps or single trees in parks, 
 lawns, && or filling up open spaces in 
 older plantations, woods, &c. 
 
 It may not be amiss to state an experi- 
 ment that had been tried in the Forest, 
 and which was attended with great 
 success. 
 
 In planting out large oaks or other 
 trees, if care is taken to get them up 
 with good roots, replant them with care, 
 and to thin out some of the branches and 
 cut the others in, if the plants should 
 have many branches, or to cut off their 
 tops at from 10 to 12 or 13 feet from 
 the ground, according to the height and 
 strength of the plant to be removed, they 
 will generally succeed very well. This me- 
 thod might be very desirable, and useful 
 in many cases, where oaks are too crowd- 
 ed, by taking some out, and planting them 
 in such places, where small plants would 
 
68 
 
 be smothered or injured by the causes 
 before pointed out. 
 
 An experiment of this kind had been 
 tried in the Forest some years ago. 
 About five acres of land had been en- 
 closed and sown with acorns ; and at 
 various times since, when the plants were 
 from 12 to 14 or 16 feet high, and so 
 strong as to support their own weight 
 and stand upright, many have been taken 
 out and planted in the open or uninclosed 
 parts of the Forest, over about fifty acres, 
 and fenced round with rough thorns to 
 protect them from the cattle. These 
 have succeeded amazingly well, and are 
 now in as healthy and vigorous a state as 
 can be imagined or wished. Of those 
 that had been planted out the first, some 
 appeared to have had their heads or tops 
 cut off at from about 10 to 15 feet high, 
 and the others to have been left with 
 their heads or tops on. Part of those, 
 with their heads left on, look very well, 
 and are making side branches ; but, in 
 in general, those that have had their tops 
 cut off at their removal, are by far the 
 
'69 
 
 best plants, and are more disposed to 
 throw out strong branches, to form crooks, 
 knees, See. than the others, and they begin 
 to grow much sooner; because large plants, 
 when removed, if they are not well cut in, 
 pruned, or divested of a great part of their 
 branches, are much longer before they 
 make fresh shoots, if ever they do ; as 
 probably the bark, sap, and air vessels get 
 hide-bound and contracted for want of 
 their usual supply and circulation of nu- 
 triment, and will remain in a weak and 
 sickly state for years, or till it kills them, 
 if they are not relieved by cutting all or 
 part of the branches off; when they will 
 soon make fresh and vigorous shoots, if 
 that operation has not been too long de- 
 layed. This must be evident to practical 
 planters, and must strongly evince the 
 utility of cutting off the head of a stunted 
 hide-bound plant, pruning the branches 
 in, or by slitting the bark up the stem. 
 Any or all of these operations will be of 
 the greatest benefit to save the tree, 
 accelerate its health, and quicken its 
 growth ; but this is particularly applica- 
 ble to transplanted and stunted fruit-trees. 
 
70 
 
 After the heads are cut off, and the 
 plants make fresh shoots for a new 
 head, it then requires a little care and 
 skill to select the best, placed so as to 
 cover the wound made by cutting off its 
 head to heal over, or to cut off the head 
 to where the best shoots are emitted from 
 the stem, as they may happen to be below 
 where it was cut off, which would cause 
 an unsightly stump, or leave a wound 
 when that stump decays, which may in- 
 jure the timber, if it should be a thick 
 tree cut off. 
 
 When oaks have been drawn up weak 
 and tall, without any side branches, a- 
 mong other trees, which is frequently the 
 case, the best method I believe to be 
 adopted with them, after the others have 
 been taken out, would be to head them 
 down at different heights, when they 
 might be formed with a little art and 
 care into the most beautiful and useful 
 trees ; whereas, when they are left in that 
 state, they hardly ever come to any thing, 
 and are a continual eye-sore. 
 
 These observations will apply to all 
 
71 
 
 trees planted out large for ornament, 
 hasty shelter, skreens, blinds, &c. in parks, 
 lawns, or near the mansions of country 
 gentlemen, by which means the object of 
 the planter might be accomplished much 
 sooner than by planting small plants from 
 nurseries ; it would also be the means of 
 preserving many a choice and valuable 
 tree, which the proprietor would feel much 
 reluctance in cutting away, although it 
 was injuring another of more value which 
 might be removed into fresh situations, 
 where it would be of great use in much 
 less time than small young plants. 
 
 A person skilled in the art of pruning, 
 as gardeners are or ought to be, would do 
 a great deal in forming these newly plan- 
 ted trees, either for profit or ornament, 
 or those that have been drawn up weak 
 and their tops cut off, as they ought not 
 to be left to chance after that operation, 
 or to the management of ignorant persons 
 who have never studied or known the na- 
 ture of pruning, &c. but proprietors should 
 study to know the nature of these things 
 themselves, as they are always the most 
 
72 
 
 interested, or should be ; and then they 
 would take a pride and pleasure in such 
 laudable and useful pursuits, and would 
 be able to give proper directions, and to 
 judge when the work was skilfully per- 
 formed, which it is chiefly the design of 
 this work to inculcate. 
 
75 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Plantations of mixed Trees, shewing how 
 they are accelerated or retarded in their 
 Growth by different Modes of Treatment; 
 with a Table of Experimental Facts to 
 prove it. 
 
 CHOPWELL PLANTATIONS. 
 
 Having completed the planting of the 
 Forest according to Mr Driver's contract, 
 the commissioners thought it right to 
 remove me into the county of Durham, 
 to superintend the planting of some lands 
 belonging to the Crown for the production 
 of navy timber, and to have the charge of 
 that and some that had been planted 
 about six years before. 
 
 The land intended to be planted was 
 arable, worn out by bad cultivation, with 
 some old woody and boggy land, to the 
 extent of nearly 900 acres ; about one 
 half had been planted in 1813, 1814, and 
 1815, the other in 1820 and 1821. 
 
74 
 
 The original contract with Mr Falla 
 was to plant the ground one half larch, 
 one quarter oak, the other quarter with 
 ash, elm, beech, sycamore, and alder, and 
 to be mended over for three years after- 
 wards where the plants should fail. 
 
 The larch and alder took to the soil 
 immediately, and grew very rapidly ; but 
 the oak, ash, elm, &c. took but slowly, as 
 those kinds are several years before they 
 so take to the soil as to make any progress, 
 particularly the oak, some of them from 
 1 to 6, others from 7 to 8 years, befoTe 
 they begin to grow. 
 
 When I first came to Chopwell, in the 
 Autumn of 1819, I made a survey of the 
 plantations, and stated my opinion, in a 
 report to the commissioners, on several 
 subjects relating to the plantations, of 
 which they were pleased to express their 
 approval, and ordered me to write, for 
 their information, a monthly report of the 
 state of the fences, drains, enclosures, and 
 plants, of the works executed and going 
 forward, together with such remarks and 
 observations as might, in my opinion, be 
 
75 
 
 beneficial to the plantations, similar to 
 what I had been accustomed to do from 
 Dean Forest. 
 
 I made, accordingly, another careful 
 survey of the grounds that had been 
 planted ; and was astonished to find, in 
 some of the fields, scarce any thing but 
 larch and alder, with very few oaks or 
 other wood to be seen. I have counted 
 14 or 15 larches in a row all together, at 
 4 feet apart, or larch and alder mixed ; 
 and well knowing that oak timber was 
 the grand object of the Crown in planting 
 forests, I was not a little surprised in 
 coming from the Forest where nothing 
 scarce at first were planted but oaks, as 
 the larch and alder had taken to grow 
 very rapidly from the first ; and being 
 planted so very thick, the branches had 
 met and united close together, and the 
 grass and other weeds had become so 
 rank and high that the oaks were nearly 
 smothered, and, quite dwindling, would 
 not bear their own weight when the grass 
 or weeds were cut or pressed from them. 
 In the mending over, great quantities of 
 
76 
 
 larch had been put in where the small 
 oaks and other plants were among the 
 grass, and could not be easily seen at that 
 season, when they are divested of leaves, 
 so that the plantations appeared to have 
 nothing but larches in them, as several of 
 the oaks must have been destroyed in the 
 mending over, and the larch was very fre- 
 quently planted close by an oak or an elm. 
 Finding them in this state, I represent- 
 ed to the commissioners, that if oaks were 
 the principal object, there appeared, in my 
 opinion, to be too many larches planted, 
 and there were great wide hedge rows 
 from 20 to 30 feet wide, besides other 
 places not planted. I recommended a 
 nursery of young oaks, with some Spanish 
 chesnuts, as I conceived they would grow 
 here, although there were very few in the 
 country, and I was told they would not 
 thrive in this cold climate. I also recom- 
 mended some ash to plant by the side of 
 the drains, and in rich moist places, with 
 some elms, and a few Scotch and spruce 
 firs, for particular situations ; the spruce 
 chiefly, with a few silver firs, for some deep 
 
77 
 
 rich bogs, where I conceived they would 
 grow to a great size ; but my chief object 
 was, the nursery of oaks, to fill up the 
 deficiencies which I foresaw would occur 
 when the larches were taken out. These 
 suggestions were acknowledged and ap- 
 proved of by the commissioners, the nur- 
 sery ordered to be made, and plants pro- 
 cured according to my recommendation. 
 
 Respecting there being too many larches, 
 they approved of what I had suggested, 
 and said they would take it into consider- 
 ation against the next planting season, as 
 it was too late to alter it for the present. — 
 Accordingly, at the next planting season, 
 when there were about 180 acres to plant, 
 they directed an alteration in the mode of 
 planting, ordering only one fourth larch 
 instead of one half, as before, and one half 
 oaks, the other fourth a mixture as at first. 
 
 I found, when I first came, that the people 
 who had the management of these plant- 
 ations had commenced what they called 
 pruning the larches, by cutting off all the 
 lower branches close to the stem, to about 
 4 or 5 feet from the ground, as is the 
 
78 
 
 common practice with numerous gentle- 
 men who have plantations ; but observing 
 that the branches met, or soon would, at 
 the top, and by excluding the light from 
 the few oaks there were, and these in so 
 weak and dwindled a state, the very best 
 of them only from about a foot to a yard 
 high, and the larches from 12 to 15 or 18 
 feet high, I was certain the oak, elm, and 
 ash, could not grow under that shade, any 
 more than where the branches had not 
 been cut, and over-topped the oaks, and 
 other hard-wood.* Besides the very great 
 expence in going over all the larches in 
 that manner, by cutting the branches off 
 close to the stem, without doing any good 
 whatever to the oaks and other plants, as 
 I knew the larches must not be there 
 long if there were any oaks to be raised 
 for a forest. 
 
 I was struck with the idea that, by 
 shortening the branches of the larches or 
 
 * All kinds of wood, but the fir and pine tribes, are 
 termed hard-wood in this country ; how proper the 
 distinction, I shall not at present inquire. 
 
79 
 
 alders, to admit light and room to grow, 
 wherever there was an oak, ash, or elm, 
 which I considered of more value than a 
 larch or alder, and that it would turn to 
 profit after the larches were taken out; and 
 though at that time I was not aware of 
 the real value of the larches, and the 
 various uses they could be converted to 
 at so young a growth, nor that there 
 would be a demand for them ; but I knew 
 they were planted for a secondary object, 
 as nurses to the oaks. — I considered them 
 as the best of nurses for that purpose, in 
 a moderate proportion, if not suffered to 
 overlay and smother their charge, if I 
 may be allowed the simile ; for there are 
 few persons who would like to have their 
 favourite and hopeful heir overlaid and 
 smothered by a sleepy nurse, nor leave 
 him too long in her charge ; so it is with 
 the young oaks, which may be justly 
 considered as the favourites and heirs of 
 the forest. 
 
 Much good, I thought, might be done 
 to the oaks by shortening the branches of 
 the larches, alders, or any other thing that 
 
80 
 
 impeded the growth of the oaks, and that 
 by this method the larches might be 
 suffered to grow longer before they were 
 taken out, and turn to more profit by be- 
 ing larger before they were cut ; that the 
 expence would be but little compared 
 with the advantage, that a deal of ground 
 might be gone over in a little time by 
 shortening the branches where the plants 
 of more value were growing, and on that 
 side only which encroached upon such 
 plants. 
 
 My plan was approved of, and I received 
 orders to proceed with the work in that 
 manner ; at the same time I was directed 
 to sell and turn every thing that I could 
 to the best advantage, towards lessening 
 the expence ; particularly some whins of 
 a very extraordinary size, of which we 
 were clearing the ground about to be 
 planted. 
 
 But to return to the larches, which had 
 been planted only seven years ; in July, 
 1820, we commenced relieving the young 
 oaks, ashes, elms, and beeches, where there 
 were any, from the over-growth of the 
 
81 
 
 larches, according to the orders I had 
 received. The sycamore, or plane tree as 
 it is called in the north, I considered of no 
 value as a nurse ; and, if suffered to grow, 
 the very worst enemy to the oak. I got 
 some hooks made with a handle about a 
 yard long, and the bill about a foot long 
 and bent a little, such as is used in Scot- 
 land for cutting hedges instead of shears, 
 with one hand back-handed. Wherever 
 we found an oak, ash, or elm, we shorten- 
 ed the branches from the larch on the 
 side that encroached upon the oak, or 
 other plants to be relieved, from a foot to 
 2 feet from the stem of the larch ; or, if 
 the plant was very near, we cut the 
 branches closer to the stem, or according 
 to the distance the plant was from the 
 larch, shortening the branches, as high as 
 the men could reach with the hooks, with 
 a quick stroke downwards to make a clear 
 cut ; copying nature, to keep the upper 
 branches the shortest ; the longer to 
 admit light to the other plants, which I 
 considered of the most essential use to 
 their growth. When the larches were 
 
 L 
 
82 
 
 too high to reach with the hook, the men 
 bent down the larches that were not too 
 strong with one hand, and shortened the 
 uppermost branches with the other ; if 
 there were larches on every side the oak. 
 and near to it, then of course we shorten- 
 ed the branches all round it ; and if there 
 was a plant to be relieved on each side of 
 a larch, the branches were shortened on 
 two sides of the larch. It but seldom 
 happened that a larch had the branches 
 shortened all round.. 
 
 The oaks at this time were very lan- 
 guid and weak, where the land was good 
 and herbage rank. When performing 
 this work I ordered the men to clear the 
 grass from about the plants, to beat it 
 down with the hand or hook, and to look 
 carefully for them, as but few could be 
 seen without close examination ; at the 
 same time shortening any of the strong 
 shoots a little, and where they grew forked 
 with two or more shoots, to shorten all in, 
 except the best for a leader, and not too 
 close to the stem ; but in this I had a 
 good deal of trouble to overcome, as thev 
 
83 
 
 all thought they knew very well how it 
 should be done, particularly as to the 
 pruning, and each, no doubt, thought his 
 own way the best ; at length I persuaded 
 them not to shorten them so near to the 
 stem, nor to cut any off close to the stem. 
 
 It will be well to bear in mind the size 
 and condition of the oaks at that time, 
 (1S ( 20) and the sixth and seventh year 
 after they had been planted, to contrast 
 it with their appearance and size at this 
 time (1824.) In the beginning of Septem- 
 ber following I was astonished to see the 
 improvement the oaks had made, both as 
 to strength and appearance, having got 
 several young vigorous shoots from the 
 sides, and where the branches had been 
 shortened ; I had the elm, ash, and beech 
 shortened in the same manner where they 
 stood in need, leaving the straightest and 
 best shoot for a leader. 
 
 In some of the fields the larch had 
 suffered considerably from the blight, or 
 from that white glutinous matter which 
 so frequently gets on them in the Spring 
 and Summer, from the frosts or other 
 
84 
 
 causes, and were in a very unhealthy, 
 sickly state ; part of the branches were 
 killed by ,it. When the branches were 
 shortened in, it gave them a very naked 
 appearance ; but as the oaks were the 
 grand object to be considered, and by 
 that cause* they got more light, and the 
 larches being only a secondary object, I 
 thought but little about it ; in fact, I 
 thought it a benefit to the other plants, 
 till it was affirmed that I had spoiled the 
 larches, and that they bled by cutting 
 them in that manner ; but knowing from 
 experience that no plants would bleed, if 
 cut when in a growing state, except the 
 vine, which bleeds more than any plant 
 when cut in the Spring, and before it 
 comes into leaf ; but leave it till it is in 
 full leaf, and it may be pruned as much 
 as may be into the old wood, and no 
 bleeding of any account ensues, the as- 
 cending sap being conveyed into the 
 young shoots immediately. 
 
 However, as I found so much was said, 
 by several people of supposed knowledge, 
 that the larches were spoiled by shorten- 
 
85 
 
 ing the branches, and which blame was 
 attached to me, I was induced to ascertain, 
 by actual experiments, whether the larches 
 were injured by that operation or not. — 
 I accordingly measured several larches, 
 some with the branches shortened in the 
 manner described, others with the branch- 
 es left entire or not cut at all, and some 
 with the branches cut off close to the 
 stem to about 4 or 5 feet from the ground, 
 and as nearly of the same thickness, height, 
 and size, in the same soil, and as near 
 together as possible, to make it as fair a 
 trial as I possibly could. 
 
 I was afterwards induced to try further 
 experiments of the same nature upon 
 more larches, oaks, elms, &c. to ascertain 
 by facts the best method as to pruning, 
 bringing trees to the greatest size and 
 profit in the shortest period, and to con- 
 trast the difference between taking proper 
 care of plantations in their infancy, or 
 neglecting and leaving them to chance 
 in that most important period of their 
 growth ; which I hope I shall be able to 
 prove beyond a doubt by actual experi- 
 ments and facts. 
 
86 
 
 Before the end of the second Summer, 
 the astonishing effects of these experi- 
 ments were very visible both in the oaks 
 and the larches ; wherever the pruning 
 hook had been, the larches had shot out 
 numerous young vigorous shoots, even 
 where the larches had been so blighted 
 and injured, that several of the blighted 
 ones died from its effects. It was truly 
 surprising to see the healthy and vigorous 
 shoots they had made on that side of the 
 trees that had been shortened, when con- 
 trasted with the other side that had not 
 been cut in, or with those trees that had 
 not been cut at all. Where a larch had 
 happened to have the branches cut in all 
 round, it gave it a remarkably healthy 
 appearance, by its numerous young vigo- 
 rous branches full of leaves, when con- 
 trasted with the sickly blighted state of 
 its neighbour. 
 
 When it was discovered that the larches 
 had not bled to death by the operation of 
 shortening the branches, it was thought 
 they were injured by the numerous and 
 vigorous young shoots which would 
 
87 
 
 draw the sap from the stem of the tree, 
 weaken it, and spread and do more harm 
 to the oaks than if not cut at all. The 
 absurdity of draining the sap from the 
 stem of the tree, so as to injure or prevent 
 its increasing in bulk, I believe I need 
 not point out to any man of common ex- 
 perience in the vegetable world ; as any 
 one, who observes a tree in its natural 
 state, will see that, the more leaves and 
 branches there are on it, the thicker the 
 stem. Observe only the trees on the 
 outsides of woods, where they have more 
 leaves and branches than in situations 
 where they are crowded in the interior of 
 the plantations. Except the tree is suf- 
 fered to run all to branches, which will be 
 the case if it has room to spread, and is 
 not checked by shortening those branches 
 in, which prevents them extending too far 
 from the stem ; but in every case the stem 
 will be thicker in proportion to the num- 
 ber of branches and leaves below where 
 those branches unite with the main stem. 
 Shortening their branches, before they 
 extend too far from the stem, causes a 
 
88 
 
 greater number of smaller branches and 
 leaves near the stem ; checks the great 
 currency of sap into those branches, at 
 least prevents them from becoming large 
 ones ; and makes it to ascend and descend 
 in greater quantities in the main stem, 
 and increases it in substance, as the tree 
 advances in height, and makes fresh 
 branches higher up ; those branches at 
 the bottom grow but little thicker, but 
 continue to draw in nutriment by the 
 leaves till the tree is advanced to a great 
 size, when they of course dwindle and die 
 away, without leaving any of those great 
 knots and blemishes occasioned by the 
 decay and breaking off of large branches 
 from the stems of timber trees. Or the 
 branches might be cut off close to the 
 stem, when the tree has advanced and 
 made branches sufficient, above the 
 height it may be desirable to have a 
 clean straight stem. 
 
 But to return to the subject of the 
 experiments. — I have drawn out a table 
 of some of the principal ones, among 
 numerous others, which will shew how 
 
89 
 
 trees are increased in size and how re- 
 tarded, with the increase in each year, 
 and how that may be more or less in 
 different years from accidental causes ; 
 and a pretty correct judgment may be 
 formed how large a size a tree may grow 
 to in a given time, particularly if the 
 experiments were continued for a few 
 more years, upon oaks, elms, and other 
 kinds of trees. The larches have been 
 pretty well ascertained in the four years 
 I have carried on the experiments. 
 
90 
 
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 1 
 
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 do. entire at 3 
 
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 do. thinned out at 3 
 
 do. thinned out at 2 6 
 
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 Thirteenth Division. 
 
 do. shortened at 3 
 
 do. do at 3 
 
 do. do at 3 
 
 Fourteenth Division. 
 
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 do. do at 3 
 
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94 
 
 The first 3 larches, in the first division, 
 with the branches entire, as will be seen 
 by the table, have increased 2 inches and 
 an eighth of an inch in girt each year, for 
 four years on an average; the second, with 
 the branches shortened, has increased 2 
 inches and nearly 4 eighths each year on 
 an average ; while the tree, with the bran- 
 ches cut off close to the stem to 4 or 
 5 feet, has only increased 1 inch and 3 
 eighths, or a little more, in each year. 
 
 The trees, in each division, grew in the 
 same field, the same soil, and as near to- 
 gether as I could get them, as I wished 
 to have the experiments as complete and 
 exact as posssible. 
 
 Nos. 1 and 2, in the second division, are 
 remarkable, and shew the difference very 
 clearly of the two modes ; between cutting 
 the branches off close to the stem, and 
 leaving them to nature at full length. 
 The tree, with the branches cut off, had 
 a little the advantage of the best soil in 
 this case. The tree, with the branches cut 
 off close, it will be seen by the table, 
 has increased in girt only 3 inches and 3 
 
95 
 
 eighths in 4 years ; whereas the tree, with 
 the branches entire, has increased 7 inches 
 3 eighths in the four years, making one 
 inch each year more than the other ; 
 an object, surely, well worth attending to ! 
 
 In the third division the tree, with the 
 branches shortened, has increased half an 
 inch in girt more than the tree with the 
 branches entire. 
 
 In the fourth division are two trees 
 measured, the one with the branches 
 shortened in all round, and the other 
 with part of the branches tak^n out close 
 to the stem, to shew the difference of the 
 increase between trees with numerous, or 
 with only a few branches on, let it arise 
 from what cause it may. The plants so 
 circumstanced were nearly alike in every 
 respect ; it will be seen that the one with 
 the branches shortened has more than 
 doubled the other in two years growth, 
 having increased 1 inch and 6 eighths 
 more than the other. 
 
 In the fifth division the trees were not 
 so healthy and vigorous as in some of the 
 other fields, having been blighted and in- 
 
96 
 
 jured by whins and birch growing among 
 them, and other causes ; but the experi- 
 ments are demonstrative of the fact, 
 that trees with numerous branches in- 
 crease faster than those with only a few 
 branches, or in a sickly state, as will be 
 seen by referring to the table. Some of 
 them have not increased any thing in girt 
 the last year, the branches being few, and 
 the leaves sickly, all the Summer, as the 
 larches were more blighted this year 
 (1824) than the preceding one. 
 
 The tree, No. 4, marked tall in this divi- 
 sion, is about 18 or 19 feet high, stands 
 clear of any other, and much exposed ; 
 which proves that, by divesting trees of 
 their branches, they may be grown as 
 tall and slender when standing singly as 
 when crowded close together, and have 
 lost their leaves for want of light, although 
 they might have had plenty of branches. 
 This fact shews why trees, crowded to- 
 gether, cannot increase in bulk for want 
 of leaves and branches. 
 
 No. 5, in the same division, is about 15 
 feet high, with branches more numerous. 
 
97 
 
 I shall pass over some of the other di- 
 visions without any remark. 
 
 In division 9 it will be seen that a larch, 
 planted in 1820, has increased in girt the 
 last year 2 inches, nearly as much as the 
 trees in the first division of 11 years 
 growth, and 19 inches in girt. It appears 
 curious that a tree, of 4 years growth from 
 the time of planting, grows in thickness as 
 much or nearly as a larger and older tree ! 
 Might we not judge nearly at the age of a 
 healthy tree from its being first planted, 
 when we find by an average of years 
 how much it will increase in girt yearly, 
 allowing for casualties, from seasons, or 
 other accidental causes, according to situ- 
 ations and kinds of trees ? This may be a 
 proper subject to ascertain by experi- 
 ments upon different trees for a number 
 of years. 
 
 In division 8 are three trees of the same 
 size when measured, which will shew the 
 difference strongly of the different modes 
 of pruning larches, if it may be called 
 pruning. 
 
 In divisions 12 and 13 are experiments 
 
 N 
 
98 
 
 upon several oaks, with numerous branch- 
 es ; others with few branches upon them 
 thinned out and cut off close, similar to 
 the larches ; those with entire branches 
 had the strongest shortened a little in the 
 manner I have before described, to cause 
 them to produce more small branches and 
 leaves, and not to grow long straggling 
 branches with but few leaves upon them. 
 By these experiments it will be seen what 
 vast advantage the oak and larch with 
 many branches and leaves have over those 
 with but few branches, by the increase in 
 girt each year in such small young plants; 
 the largest increase in girt in one year, at 
 2 feet from the ground, appears to be 2 in- 
 ches ; at 3 feet, 1 inch, 4 eighths, or an inch 
 and a half; and 1 inch 3 eighths, 1 inch 2 
 eighths, and 1 inch in girt ; whereas those 
 with the branches thinned out are but few. 
 Nos. 7, 8, 9, in this division, have not in- 
 creased near so much ; which, I should 
 think, would convince any unprejudiced 
 person of the utility of leaves and bran- 
 dies in a healthy state upon trees, and 
 of the error, in very common practice, of 
 cutting all the lower side shoots close off 
 
99 
 
 from young trees, where pruning, as it is 
 called, is practised. — Nos. 7, 3, 9, though so 
 small in girt, are as tall, and have as much 
 room, and as good soil, as any of the others. 
 
 In divisions 13, 14, and 15, is shewn the 
 size of oaks, elms, and ash, planted in 
 1813 and 1814, I mean in the Spring of 
 those years, as the planting generally 
 commences in the latter end of the pre- 
 ceding years. There are oaks from 7 to 
 9 inches in girt at 3 feet from the ground, 
 and only 11 and 12 years from being 
 planted, and were small plants, and have 
 increased above an inch in girt the last 
 year ; elms planted at the same time are at 
 3 feet from the ground, from 8-J- to nearly 
 11^ inches in girt, with an increase the last 
 year of an inch and 3 eighths ; and ash of 
 the same years planting, from 6 to 7 and 
 8J inches in girt ; also numerous oaks 
 from 6 to 8 and 9 inches in girt, at 3 feet 
 from the ground. 
 
 Now suppose these oaks to increase 
 only an inch and a quarter for the next 8 
 years, (but it is very probable they will in- 
 crease more, as the last year I did not 
 think a verv favourable one, and in one 
 
100 
 
 instance, No. 1, in the twelfth division, an 
 oak the year before had increased at 8 
 feet an inch and half in girt) then there 
 will be oaks from 18 to 20 inches in girt, 
 ash of the same size, and elms from 20 
 inches to 2 feet or more; supposing the elms 
 to increase only 1 inch 3 eighths each year, 
 but it is probable they may exceed that. 
 
 These oaks are from 10 to 12 or 15 feet 
 high, and strong, except those with few 
 branches, which are as tall, and only half 
 the girt. 
 
 Now, let any gentleman consider to 
 himself, at having oaks, ash, and elms, of 
 the sizes before stated at 20 years growth, 
 from the time of planting them, after 
 taking out a crop of larches ; some of the 
 ash and elms might be taken out much 
 sooner, if they should be too near to 
 injure an oak. The elms for pit props, 
 and the ash for laths for crates, in the glass 
 manufactories ; but the ash tree is saleable 
 for various purposes when of a small size; 
 and the oaks of that size, (if they should be 
 too close,) are useful for various purposes, 
 besides the value of the bark, and having 
 oaks at 20 years growth fit to thin out. 
 
101 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 On the profits arising from planting larches, 
 as nurses to other trees. 
 
 I have before noticed that, by shortening 
 the branches of the larches, they could 
 be suffered to grow a longer period before 
 they were taken out, with equal advantage 
 to both the oaks and the larch, as has 
 been shewn by the experiments. 
 
 As the larch and alder were planted so 
 thick, and took to grow very fast from the 
 first, they had got the ascendancy so 
 much that they were injuring each other, 
 by depriving each other of branches and 
 leaves, and excluding the light from all 
 the lower part ; so that the plants were 
 drawing up weak and slender, similar to 
 having the branches entirely cut away, 
 and getting so tall, that what oaks or 
 other wood remained would soon have 
 been entirely spoiled or dead ; in fact, 
 great part was dead, where the larches 
 were so very thick, by the larches over- 
 
102 
 
 topping and keeping them continually in 
 the shade. I believe I need not point out 
 to any person, who makes any observation 
 on these matters, what little chance small 
 dwindling plants have to grow among 
 larch and alder at 4 feet apart, and 15 or 
 20 feet high, and growing taller every year. 
 There are a few places in these woods at 
 this time, where the larches have not been 
 thinned out ; where the oaks are dead, or 
 only about a foot high, with a few leaves, 
 barely alive ; let this be contrasted with 
 the oaks I have been describing, and 
 which are to be seen also. If these facts 
 will not convince, I do not know what 
 will. 
 
 The two first-planted farms contained 
 454 acres, about 100 of which were wood 
 land, and wet bogs, growing alder, birch, 
 and other wood peculiar to such land. 
 The tenants had the pasturage of it, 
 as it was all open to the arable land, the 
 highest rent paid for it about the time it 
 was planted, was ^.220 per year ; but, 
 shortly after, it would have been reduced 
 25 per cent, the same as the other farms 
 
103 
 
 were in 1818 and 1819; this would have 
 reduced the rental to s§.157 per year, 
 which, for the arable land alone, was not 
 10s per acre. 
 
 The larch and alder having been plant- 
 ed so very thick, it became necessary, in 
 18253, the ninth year after planting, to 
 begin to thin some of them, particularly 
 where they were stunted, or too near an 
 oak or better plants. I was told I might 
 cut them out, if they were too near or in- 
 juring an oak, without paying any regard 
 to the circumstance whether they could 
 be sold or not. However I thought it my 
 duty, according to the instructions I had 
 received, to try to make the best of every 
 thing I should cut down ; in which, I am 
 happy to say, I was very fortunate. I 
 accordingly began thinning some of the 
 smallest and ill-shaped bad ones about the 
 size of a hedge stake, and some still 
 smaller about the size of a corf-rod, 
 taking out those only that appeared to 
 be injuring an oak, or were so crowded as 
 to hurt each other, and which, if left, 
 would never be much better, with the 
 
104 
 
 broken topped and crooked ones for 
 hedge-stakes, and some a size larger for 
 glass-posts, cutting out the bad alders and 
 sycamores if too near an oak. There were 
 often two plants together, owing to the 
 mending over in the long grass, when the 
 plants could not be seen ; leaving all the 
 largest and best, except they were close to 
 an oak, to grow to a larger size for posts 
 and rails or pit props till I could make 
 more of them. 
 
 What I cut the first year (1822) as be- 
 fore observed, were of the smallest size 
 and worst formed ones, and out of only a 
 few fields I cut as many as I sold for ^.39. 
 Having kept an account that year, I found, 
 after all expences were paid, that I had 
 cleared near £6, although it was the first 
 year, and the men were strange to the 
 work. A great deal of other stuff was cut 
 down of no value, and much time lost 
 in clearing the plants, cutting the side- 
 branches off the larches, and carrying 
 them to the roads. Cutting the branches 
 from a larch is rather tedious, they being 
 so very numerous, from their manner of 
 growing on the tree. 
 
105 
 
 In 1823, the second year of thinning, 
 we thinned more out, as I found how I 
 could dispose of them to the best advan- 
 tage, thinning them so as to benefit the 
 oaks, and turn them to the most profit ; 
 always keeping in mind the paramount 
 object, the unbounded encouragement of 
 the growth of the oak. 
 
 This year (1823) I sold as much larch 
 and alder thinnings, with some birch and 
 alder for pit-props that grew in some of 
 the bogs, as amounted to £.232 lis. 6d. 
 Corf-rods on a part of these two farms to 
 £A5 6s. making a total of ^§.277 17s. 6d. 
 I also sold, in the same year, larches 
 of 10 years growth from being planted, 
 for 6d. per tree upon the ground, down to 
 a farthing for the smallest size, for train- 
 ing fruit trees to in nurseries, some of 
 them as railing for fencing from l^d. to 
 2d. and 3d. each, and a great quantity to 
 the country people for spars or rafters for 
 building, for which purpose they were 
 found to answer very well. If one for 
 about 6d. was too short or weak, I advised 
 them to take two at 3d. each, equal or 
 
106 
 
 superior to the best at 6d., which, by 
 splicing the two together, made a good 
 spar or rafter from 12 to 15 feet long ; 
 by which means I disposed of a great 
 quantity. The others, not straight or so 
 well formed, were sold for pit props or 
 posts for fencing, &c. and the tops of 
 these for making crates for the glass and 
 earthen manufactories, or hedge stakes, 
 besides great quantities of the size of a 
 good hedge stake, for a mode of fencing 
 which was suggested to me by a neigh- 
 bouring gentleman, which I adopted my- 
 self, and pointed out its advantages to 
 others. — I was thus enabled to dispose of 
 thousands which wanted taking out, and 
 which would have been unsold or left to 
 injure the others, by making room for 
 them to grow faster for pit props and 
 other purposes, and to clear the ground 
 for filling up the vacancies with young 
 oaks and chesnuts, which were provided 
 and arriving at a proper size to plant out. 
 In 1824, the third year of thinning, 
 I still became more fixed in my ideas 
 about thinning the larches and alders, of 
 
107 
 
 disposing of them to the best advantage, 
 both for the good of the oaks and making 
 the most profit, by cutting out only the 
 largest where I could possibly avoid it, 
 in those fields where I had taken out the 
 smallest previously ; so that I was now 
 reversing the system, for by taking out 
 the largest that had arrived to the best size 
 they ought to stand to grow, it gave more 
 light to the oaks and other trees, and left 
 the smaller larches longer time to increase 
 in size and value, without injuring the 
 oaks so much as the tallest were. 
 
 This year (1824) I had thinned out as 
 much larch and alder, with some birch 
 and alder, in part of the bogs, and corf- 
 rods from only a part of these two farms, 
 to the amount of ^§430, of corf and crate 
 rods alone to the amount of s§84, still 
 leaving a quantity nearly as great for the 
 ensuing year. — Thus it appears that, on the 
 rough land alone, from corf and crate rods 
 only is a profit of from 50 to £60 a year 
 on an average ; as these crops of corf rods, 
 if properly managed, are cut away every 
 third year, and can be divided into 3 cut- 
 
108 
 
 tings, impeding but very little the growth 
 of other timber when small, and none 
 when the timber gets above them. — The 
 thinnings from only a part of these farms 
 have produced the sum of J=A30, subtract 
 the rental as reduced £157, leaving £2,75 
 more than the rental. 
 
 From these facts any gentleman may 
 see that, by proper management, he might 
 begin to derive advantage from his money 
 expended in plantings, and taking care of 
 them afterwards, for this must be attended 
 to in 9 or 10 years from planting, and con- 
 trast this with the rental of these farms, 
 that the land wat> so bad or ill managed 
 that the farmers could scarce make a 
 living upon them at that low rent, which 
 was probably the cause of its being planted. 
 
 Not having any idea of writing upon 
 this subject till very lately, I did not keep 
 an account separately of the larch and 
 alder thinned out on the arable land, and 
 that had been actually planted from some 
 that grew naturally in the bogs and wood- 
 land ; but the greater part of both must 
 have grown from the time it was planted, 
 
109 
 
 and the cattle kept out ; nor of the ex- 
 pence of the work separately, except the 
 first year, as a great deal of other work 
 was going forward at the same time. 
 
 The first year of larch and alder from 
 those that had been planted, were thin- 
 ned to the amount of nearly dAO, the 
 second year, as nearly as I can estimate, 
 .£.130, the third year £.250; and this 
 upon only a part of the land under culti- 
 vation at the time it was planted, as a 
 considerable part has had none thinned 
 out at present. 
 
110 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the various uses to which larches might be 
 applied at an early growth. — Of the goose- 
 berry and currant plants, with remarks on 
 the value of the wine to be produced from 
 the fruits thereof. 
 
 Having shewn what profits might be de- 
 rived from plantations at an early period, 
 if taken proper care of and judiciously 
 managed from their infancy, I shall en- 
 deavour to point out the various uses the 
 larches may be applied to at an early 
 growth, and at what size they ought to be 
 taken out, if a permanent wood of oaks 
 or other kinds of wood are required ; and 
 to enable gentlemen who plant, to judge 
 of the proportion of larch to be planted, 
 otherwise if larch or other firs are planted 
 in the manner it was done here, viz. one 
 half larch, at 4 feet apart, which is 1360 
 to an acre. But the larches, on a consi- 
 derable part of this land, were thicker than 
 that, owing to the mending over, as the 
 small plants of oaks and other wood are 
 
Ill 
 
 not easily distinguished at that season 
 among the long grass and other herbage, 
 and the larch taking so freely to grow 
 where the land was dry and suitable. 
 
 If they are planted as thick as these 
 were, by not shortening the branches, or 
 taking them out at an early age, would be 
 the very destruction of the oaks or other 
 wood ; another year or two would have 
 killed most of the oaks here. In some of 
 the fields where the larch was so very 
 thick, most of the oaks and other wood 
 were destroyed, and we are now filling 
 them up with fresh plants instead of 
 having them the size I have shewn them 
 to be in other parts where larch was not 
 so thick, and where I had relieved them 
 in the manner stated. — It appears that 
 larches might be grown to suit a variety 
 of purposes, and very thick upon the 
 ground, if managed in the manner I shall 
 hereafter describe ; at present I will only 
 point out the uses they have been put to 
 here, and suggest other hints according to 
 local circumstances, as far as my know- 
 ledge goes, for others to improve upon. 
 
112 
 
 As the larch is, I presume, well known 
 to be the most durable wood, cut at so 
 early a period, of any we have in this 
 country, I shall not dwell upon that part 
 of the subject. We first cut out the 
 smallest sizes, some only as thick as corf- 
 rods ; but that is an article not generally 
 known, except perhaps in this part of the 
 country. They are about as thick at the 
 root end as the handle of a hay-rake, and, 
 being straight and taper, are excellent 
 stakes for nurserymen in training fruit or 
 other trees to, being so durable from their 
 resinous nature, that they will last twice 
 or thrice as long as any other stakes or 
 rods ; they are more proper for the pur- 
 pose than crooked or bent hazels. These 
 have been sold at Is. 3d. per bundle of 
 fourscore, and fetched 10 miles from the 
 plantations. Nurserymen would do well 
 to attend to this circumstance, as those of 
 that size, or a little less, would make ex- 
 cellent stakes in gentlemen's gardens for 
 tying flowers to, greenhouse-plants, and 
 various other purposes ; as the root end 
 will be in the ground, they will last a 
 
113 
 
 number of years by taking care of them, 
 tying them in bundles, and laying them 
 in the sheds ; or, if left in the ground, 
 those that cannot be taken up will last a 
 number of years, and save the gardener a 
 great deal of time and trouble, which is of 
 vast importance to an industrious gardener, 
 as it is thought they will last longer with 
 the bark on than when peeled, particularly 
 the part that is to be in the earth : the 
 bark might be left upon the root end, and 
 the other part peeled and painted, accord- 
 ing to the taste or fancy of ladies and 
 gentlemen, or the bark left on altogether. 
 A small quantity of ground near to a 
 gentleman's garden, or to a nursery plant- 
 ed thick with larches, would afford a con- 
 stant supply of handsome and durable 
 stakes for a variety of purposes, for es- 
 paliers, or any other mode of training 
 fruit-trees that require support, or for 
 flowers, slender shrubs, or any occasion 
 the gardener may require ; they may be 
 divested of their branches, made ready in 
 rainy weather, and save a vast expence in 
 p 
 
114 
 
 the employment of carpenters to make 
 them out of more valuable wood. 
 
 They are also useful for a method of 
 training currant and gooseberry trees to, 
 a method which I have adopted, and 
 which is likely to answer several useful 
 purposes. This I shall endeavour to point 
 out, first by growing double or treble the 
 quantity of fruit upon the same ground, 
 of a larger size, and superior quality, by ad- 
 mitting the light and action of the sun's 
 rays to all parts of the trees, and by pre- 
 venting them from falling or lying on the 
 ground when they are loaded with fruit in 
 wet weather, and from blowing about in 
 wind ; besides, for the weak or trailing 
 kinds of gooseberries, it raises and sup- 
 ports them from the ground, and produces 
 a bearing tree of a good size in a great 
 deal less time, with the fruit sufficiently 
 raised from the soil, free from dirt in 
 heavy rains, and easier and pleasanter to 
 pick from the branches. By this plan any 
 choice kinds for the table can be so easily 
 protected with mats, which may be left 
 open at the top to prevent them mould- 
 
115 
 
 ing, or with nets from birds, &c. to keep 
 longer in the season, and they are far su- 
 perior in flavour to those planted against 
 north v/alls, and more free from filth of 
 any kind ; they have, besides, a most 
 beautiful appearance. 
 
 Any lady or gentleman, who would wish 
 to try a few trees upon this plan, would 
 soon be convinced of the elegance of the 
 effect, as well as the decided superiority 
 of the fruit, in point of quantity, size, and 
 flavour. I have only had them trained in 
 this manner one year, but never did I see 
 finer currants or better flavoured. 
 
 The gooseberries seem to answer as 
 well ; but, being the first year and the 
 trees young, they had not so much fruit 
 upon them ; yet I have no doubt it will 
 answer my most sanguine expectations by 
 what I have seen this season. My method 
 is, to drive about 7 stakes round the cur- 
 rant tree in a circular form at about a 
 foot apart, and 14 or 15 inches from the 
 stem ; the larch stakes to be about 6 feet 
 long, arid the thickness of a good hedge- 
 stake at the lower end, allowing a foot or 
 
116 
 
 14 inches to be in the ground, which 
 leaves about 5 feet above ground to train 
 the branches to ; then bend one shoot to 
 each stake about 10 or 12 inches from the 
 ground, and tye it with bass matting- 
 twisted, or with twine that has been 
 tarred, and train a shoot on each side of 
 the stake. I only trained one shoot to a 
 stake at first ; but I have, in most cases, 
 trained two shoots, and I believe three 
 may be made to answer, particularly on 
 gooseberries, which have not so large a 
 leaf as the currant. In Summer the stakes 
 are entirely covered by the leaves, and the 
 fruit hangs like straps of onions, compara- 
 tively speaking, equally exposed to the 
 rays of light and heat, which give the 
 flavour to fruit. The stakes must be let 
 into the ground with an iron bar, and 
 drove a little, as the larch stakes, being 
 slender at top, will not bear much driving ; 
 a fire poker will do to make the holes for 
 the stakes, in case no better thing is at 
 hand. 
 
 Currant or gooseberry trees, of 3 or 4 
 years growth, may be trained to the stakes, 
 
117 
 
 but younger trees may be made more 
 handsome and regular. My trees had 
 been planted 4 years when the idea sug- 
 gested itself to me. 
 
 I intend to leave some to grow 10 or 12 
 feet high for the currants, similar to the 
 method of a hop yard ; and this, it strikes 
 me, would look very beautiful. Might not 
 handsome arbours be made over the walks 
 in a kitchen garden, by planting a row of 
 currants or gooseberries on each side, in- 
 termixed or separate, according to fancy ? 
 I also think that a row of long taper 
 larches might be set on each side of the 
 walk, at about a foot apart, and bent to 
 meet each other, so as to form an arch a 
 little higher than a person's head when 
 walking upright, high enough to allow a 
 tali person to walk under conveniently, 
 with two shoots trained one on each side 
 of every stake ; as the currant and goose- 
 berry are quick growing plants, in about 
 3 or 4 years the branches would meet, and 
 form a very beautiful and shady walk : 
 while the pendulous bunches of currant? 
 of various colours, hanging down, would 
 form a most pleasing spectacle. 
 
118 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen might regale 
 themselves in the shade with the finest 
 flavoured fruit, fresh from the hand of 
 Nature herself, without wasting any land; 
 a circumstance which should be a consi- 
 deration with those who boast of but little, 
 or who pay very dearly for it. # 
 
 As currant wine possesses, according to 
 Mr Brand's experiments, more spirit in a 
 given quantity than most of the French 
 wines, and nearly equal to port, and being 
 of a higher nutritive quality, particularly 
 the black currant, and the currant being 
 an almost certain bearer, might not cur- 
 rant yards, or currant vineyards, be made, 
 and great quantities of good and wholesome 
 wine be produced in most families, who 
 are so happy as to possess a tolerable gar- 
 den or a little land ? And how much more 
 refreshing and cooling is a glass of cheap 
 and native wine, or wine and water in the 
 Summer months, to strong beer or foreign 
 spirits ? And as any family could readily 
 
 * Since writing this I have tried some currants on the 
 plan, and find it to answer my most sanguine expectations. 
 
119 
 
 make their own wine, with the addition of 
 some sugar, they would be sure it was un- 
 adulterated ; which must be a most gra- 
 tifying reflection to many people, who 
 have witnessed the filthy compounds too 
 frequently on sale. 
 
 To persons in a poor state of health, 
 and who, it is well known, loath any kind 
 of animal food, how refreshing is a cup of 
 this wine with a little dry toast ! For my- 
 self, I have found it so useful in my own 
 family, that had I currant wine from the 
 black currant, or black and red mixed, I 
 should not seek or desire port for people 
 in a sickly state. What a gratification it 
 must be, to persons of a benevolent dispo- 
 sition, to have wholesome and cheap wine 
 to give to their sick and indigent neigh- 
 bours, or to treat their female visitants, or 
 others who might relish so humble but 
 delicious a beverage ! A small piece of 
 ground would produce a sufficient stock 
 of fruit to make a hogshead of wine ; 
 and I think it probable, were sugar redu- 
 ced in price, that currant wine might be 
 made cheaper than ale or cider ; at least, 
 
120 
 
 a crop of currants would be more certain 
 than a crop of apples ; and, considering 
 its superior strength, which is nearly dou- 
 ble, it is cheaper than cider ; besides, it 
 might be made weaker when required, by 
 mixing a little water with it when used ; 
 at any rate, currants can be grown with 
 success in situations where apples and 
 pears cannot ; and currant wine can be 
 made without any of those expensive but 
 necessary utensils required in brewing, or 
 making cider. Though a little foreign to 
 my main subject, I shall here insert a 
 receipt for making wine, such as is visually 
 made and consumed in my own family : — 
 " The currants to be quite ripe and 
 picked from the stalks, measured, and put 
 into a large earthen vessel ; to every quart 
 of fruit put one quart of cold water, about 
 half of the water at first, the fruit to be 
 well bruised and pressed with the hands, 
 then add the remainder of the water ; let 
 it stand till it ferments ; keep stirring it 
 once a day, to prevent it from becoming 
 mouldy at top, for about a week ; then 
 strain it through a hair sieve, and squeeze 
 
121 
 
 the fruit well again through the hands to 
 get out the juice ; to every quart of the 
 liquor put one pound of raw or moist su- 
 gar ; stir it well together, till the sugar is 
 dissolved in the liquor ; let it stand, till it 
 ferments again, for 4 or 5 days, and skim 
 off the scum ; then put it into the cask, 
 but do not stop it too close till it has 
 done fermenting ; in about 6 months it 
 will be fit for use, either to bottle off, or 
 drink out of the cask from the lees ; if 
 bottles cannot be had, it is very good out 
 of the cask, perhaps stronger than when 
 bottled off from the lees ; a little brandy 
 may be added when bottled off, if thought 
 necessary, but it is very good without." 
 
 Objections might be raised about the 
 trouble of training currants this way, but 
 that is very little (as ladies may recreate 
 themselves with such innocent and useful 
 employment) for currants, and the up- 
 right kinds of gooseberries, a person going 
 over them 3 or 4 times through the grow- 
 ing season, to fasten the young shoots to 
 the stakes, to prevent them being broken 
 by the winds, will be sufficient. The 
 
trailing kinds of gooseberries will require 
 going over a little oftener during the 
 growing season, as they naturally incline 
 to the earth after they are once trained 
 to the stakes ; a few ties with any durable 
 stuff, will support them to each stake, and 
 the larch stakes will last 7 or 8 years, and 
 probably longer, before they decay at bot- 
 tom ; but having made no certain experi- 
 ments to ascertain how long a larch stake 
 of that size will last, I cannot be positive 
 as to the time, but it is certain it will last 
 longer than any other wood of the same 
 age. 
 
 Having digressed from the subject a 
 little, it is time I return again to it. — In 
 taking out the larches when small, the 
 worst formed ones, that are crooked and 
 have lost their tops, will make good hedge- 
 stakes, and being so durable and generally 
 straight, they are preferable in many re- 
 spects to stakes of other kinds of wood ; 
 some of the farmers would rather give 
 8d. per score for them, than put common 
 sap wood stakes of birch, alder, &c. when 
 they could have them for nothing, except 
 
123 
 
 the trouble of collecting and making them. 
 I have sold great quantities of stakes for 
 temporary hedges in turnip fields ; they 
 should be taken up and housed when not 
 in use, and will last a number of years ; 
 but these stakes, as well as those for fruit- 
 trees, being longer than common hedge- 
 stakes and the tops small, must be put 
 into the ground with an iron bar, as 
 before observed, and close the earth well 
 about them to keep them firm. 
 
 Another purpose to which they are ap- 
 plicable, and for which I have sold great 
 quantities, (and the demand is greater 
 than can be supplied,) is for a rural 
 fence near gardens, gentlemen's parks, or 
 shrubberries, as paling ; and for fencing 
 young single trees, in fields or lawns, 
 from 4 to 6 and 7 feet long, and about 
 the size of a good hedge-stake, according 
 to the purposes for which they are wanted ; 
 but these must be larches that have not 
 been injured by whins, broom, or any 
 thing that has hurt or deprived them of 
 side-shoots. By cutting the side bran- 
 ches off with a bill or hook, at a quick 
 
124 
 
 stroke, from the root towards the top. 
 leaving a stump or spur from about an 
 inch to an inch and a half the lower ones, 
 and 2 to 3 inches the upper ones, all the 
 length of the stake ; by leaving the spurs 
 longer at the smaller end than the thick 
 end, the spurs touch each other from 
 bottom to top, when nailed against the 
 rails. The larches should be straight, and 
 well furnished with spurs from the bot- 
 tom to the top ; if well done, it will ap- 
 pear thus : — 
 
 It will take about 9 in a yard, and will 
 keep out poultry, dogs, cats, hares, and 
 rabbits ; it is the most handsome fence I 
 have ever seen of the kind, and is much 
 admired for its neatness and rural appear- 
 ance, by numbers of ladies and gentlemen 
 who have seen it, and has caused a verv 
 
1«5 
 
 great demand for the larches to make it. 
 It is well adapted for close paling round 
 flower gardens, shrubberries, farmers' gar- 
 dens, &c. to keep out hares, rabbits, poul- 
 try, &c. and for other paling round parks, 
 and against young quick or any kind of 
 hedge ; as they will last while any quick 
 hedge will become a fence, answer better 
 than flat sawn or cloven paling, and look 
 much neater. — The stakes being round, 
 the shoots of the hedge or shrubs pro- 
 trude through them more easily, and 
 sooner covers them ; whereas, when the 
 shoots come against flat paling, they are 
 stopped and turned sideways, and being 
 closer, they exclude the light from the 
 young shoots ; and when the fence come- 
 to be taken away, the hedge on that side 
 is not so good and handsome as it should 
 be ; for it must be evident to any one, 
 who has made observations, of the ill 
 effects to hedges by cramming them full 
 of dead browse of any kind, or what- 
 ever excludes the light, or prevents the 
 •ower branches from spreading and keep- 
 ing their leaves in a healthy state, whether 
 
W6 
 
 it arises from being crammed full of thorns, 
 nettles, or other weeds which are suffered 
 to choak them, or from close dark paling ; 
 this kind of fence obviates all this ; and if 
 required to protect the bottom of an old 
 hedge, stakes of 3 feet long, with the spurs 
 left on, will answer the purpose, by keep- 
 ing it light and open ; the bottom would 
 have a chance to fill up, if the top of the 
 hedge is not too wide and spreading. 
 
 I have been thus particular in recom- 
 mending this as a cheap and durable fence, 
 with a view of consuming the young 
 larch and spruce firs ; for I suppose the 
 spruce will answer as well as the larch for 
 these purposes, after they have performed 
 their offices as nurses to other plants, ra- 
 ther than let them grow so thick as to in- 
 jure each other, as well as the more valu- 
 able wood that it may be wished to en- 
 courage. 
 
 This would be one material and cheap 
 way for gentlemen to consume their 
 young larches, either for their own use 
 to save more valuable timber often cut 
 for paling for their tenants* use, or 
 
which might be profitable for sale. Ano- 
 ther method is, making crates for packing 
 glass or earthen ware in ; but this sort of 
 consumption can only be in particular 
 situations, in the neighbourhood of such 
 manufactories. A larch about the thick- 
 ness a person can grasp with his hand, at 
 3 feet 6 inches from the ground, is size 
 sufficient for the glass crates. The crates 
 for earthen ware require them a little 
 longer. 
 
 The tops of the larches cut off, the 
 glass posts I have sold for 5d. per score 
 from 3 to 4 feet long for hedge-stakes 
 upon banks, and some of the shorter tops 
 from 2 to 3 feet long at 2d. per score, 
 which answer well upon banks 3, 4, or 5 
 feet high, for protecting the bottoms of 
 hedges that are open, and have been spoil- 
 ed by sheep or Other cattle browsing on 
 them ; if stuck in the bank, projecting 
 outwards similar to the fences in the fo- 
 rest, before described, and wound with 
 briers, black-thorns, or any slender thorns, 
 it makes a cheap good fence, and, by leav- 
 ing the bottom of the hedge open, it fills 
 
up in a few years, and is preferable in 
 many respects to cramming the bottom 
 of the hedges full of dead browse of any 
 kind, which is too common a practice. 
 
 The larch stakes from 3 to 4 feet long 
 are useful to nursery-men, or those who 
 grow cabbage, turnip, or other garden 
 seeds for sale, who require stakes to sup- 
 port them, which may be housed when 
 not in use, and will last for many years. 
 
 I believe the larch stakes would make 
 the most durable and best hop poles ; by 
 shortening and thinning off the branches, 
 they may be let grow till they are of a 
 sufficient length and size for that purpose, 
 without doing injury to the other wood. 
 The hop growers would soon find a great 
 saving from their durability, and gentle- 
 men within a reasonable distance would 
 meet with a ready sale for their larches. — 
 The larch that cannot be sold will make 
 charcoal; and the side branches cut off will, 
 from their lasting quality, answer well to 
 put in wet parts of the roads in the woods, 
 to prevent the timber carriages cutting 
 them deep, and are a very cheap and rea- 
 
129 
 
 dy material in wet seasons ; the smaller 
 fanned branches, or those with numerous 
 small twigs on them, are very good to 
 shelter peas, seed-beds of tender plants, 
 or for protecting seeds newly soAvn or 
 coming up from birds, and for fruit-trees 
 in blossom in the Spring ; they are pre- 
 ferable to evergreens, as the larch admits 
 the light similar to nets, and may be 
 easily stuck under the main branches ; 
 no doubt there are various other purposes 
 they may be applied to that I have not 
 thought of, but I deemed it of some im- 
 portance to mention as many sources as 
 occurred to me, to induce gentlemen to 
 begin to thin out at an earlier period 
 than is generally thought necessary. 
 
 Having seen so many plantations spoiled 
 by planting thick for shelter as it is sup- 
 posed, and knowing the great reluctance 
 many gentlemen feel after they have 
 planted to cut out any thing till it comes 
 to profit, by which very neglect so many 
 fine plantations are spoiled ; similar to 
 gardeners who, when they have a good crop 
 of fruit on wall-trees, feel a reluctance to 
 
130 
 
 thin, and but few find resolution to thin 
 it properly, which causes it to be small, 
 not so well flavoured, and weakens the 
 tree for future bearing. 
 
 Having shewn in what a short time 
 larch or other wood, considered as nurses, 
 may be turned to profit, the other wood 
 benefited and brought to quick profit 
 also, I trust this first effort of mine will 
 be appreciated by those gentlemen who 
 take pleasure in planting forest trees, and 
 who will take the trouble to think for 
 themselves. 
 
 If oak woods are the best and most 
 desirable, (which I believe to be the 
 opinion of most people who plant) nei- 
 ther larch nor any of the fir tribe ought 
 to stand among them longer than they 
 are 18 or 20 feet high, or contain about a 
 foot of timber, except a few on the out- 
 sides, or particular places which gentle- 
 men may want for their own use ; but, 
 perhaps, where larches are wanted to 
 grow to a great size, it would be better 
 to plant them by themselves, not forget- 
 ting to thin them out at proper times. — 
 
131 
 
 I believe they will pay better at the sizes 
 I have described ; for, if not cut then, 
 they must stand till they have arrived to 
 a much greater size before they can be 
 cut to advantage, by which time any 
 other wood among them will be spoiled. 
 I have before said I could demon- 
 strate that two or even three trees might 
 be made to grow for a given time, 
 with equal advantage to all, where only 
 one grew before, or rather spoiled and 
 injured its neighbours ; a position which 
 I shall endeavour to make more clear. — 
 When larches and alders are planted with 
 other wood at 4 feet apart, the most com- 
 mon distance of planting forest trees, as 
 the larch and alder take to the ground 
 the first season, in about 4 or 5 years 
 the branches touch each other ; whereas 
 the oak, ash, and elm are often that time 
 or longer before they make an effort to 
 grow ; when the branches of the larches, 
 alders, or other firs have met, overhang 
 the oaks, exclude the light by their shade, 
 and by their warmth and closeness the 
 grass and other herbage grow very long, 
 
132 
 
 overtop them, and keep them so close, 
 that they can make no branches or leaves, 
 and in a few years the greater part die, or 
 are beat and bruised by the branches of 
 larches or other trees, which have so far 
 got the lead that they cannot grow ; if, 
 by chance, some of them should make a 
 leading shoot through the branches to- 
 wards the light, as is natural, they can 
 make but few leaves or side-branches, 
 and grow tall and dwindling ; and when 
 the larch or other tree is removed, it can- 
 not support itself, gets top-heavy, bends 
 to the ground, and is a long time before 
 it can recover itself, if it ever does. 
 
 When trees are planted at 4 feet or any 
 other distance apart, and when the bran- 
 ches begin to touch each other, go over 
 them, and shorten the branches of the 
 larch, or any other tree that has encroach- 
 ed upon its neighbour, to about 18 inches 
 or 2 feet at the bottom, and rather closer 
 at the top ; but this might be regulated 
 according to the distance the encroaching 
 tree is from the trees that are designed to 
 be permanent, and the time it may be 
 
133 
 
 supposed to take before it will encroach 
 again after this shortening, if not taken 
 out. This work is best performed in the 
 Spring, Summer, or Autumnal months, 
 as the other trees are easier to be seen 
 when in leaf, and not so much time is 
 lost in looking for them, which, of course, 
 increases the expence, and should be 
 avoided as much as possible, as this is all 
 money going out before any returns are 
 made ; which is very discouraging, and 
 which, perhaps, may be one reason why 
 plantations are so often neglected at this 
 important period. 
 
 I am now speaking of letting every 
 tree grow till it will turn to profit, if it is 
 likely, or else cut it down at once ; by 
 shortening the branches it will be longer 
 before the plants injure each other, as 1 
 have proved by experiment that they will 
 increase as fast or faster than if they had 
 not been shortened. 
 
 The alder is a very spreading tree, 
 therefore it should be shortened in if it 
 is straight, otherwise cut it down. But 
 1 would only recommend the alder in wet 
 
134 
 
 ground, where the larch will not grow ; 
 and I hope to be able to shew that the 
 larch will grow on wet ground if properly 
 drained and otherwise managed, (as has 
 been said before) without which precau- 
 tion it will not thrive at all. 
 
 However, shorten the branches of the 
 larch, alder, and also all strong straggling 
 branches of oak, ash, elm, &c. if they have 
 made any, and clear the grass and other 
 filth from round the stems, to enable 
 them to make side shoots ; for if they 
 should have two or more strong leading 
 shoots, shorten all but one, reserving the 
 straightest and best for the leader to form 
 the stem of the future tree. 
 
 By this method every plant gets an 
 equal share of light and sun ; the larch 
 might grow till of a size to suit the 
 various purposes before enumerated ; if 
 hedge-stakes should be wanted, go over 
 them and take out the worst formed ones ; 
 if the spurred stakes for paling are want- 
 ed, select the next sort, with plenty of 
 side-shoots on, to make them handsome ; 
 others for espalier stakes, glass posts, or 
 
135 
 
 any purpose those sizes may be want- 
 ed for, leaving others for light railing, 
 hop poles, or any thing that is required 
 to be straight and in the tapering for any 
 particular purpose, still leaving the big- 
 gest till they arrive at the size when they 
 should stand no longer, without injuring 
 what they were designed to benefit. 
 
 The plan I have pursued here is to take 
 them out to suit the demand, still to mind 
 the grand object, the navy timber; but 
 now, when the small ones are taken out, 
 I am taking all the largest sizes that will 
 make a 7, 8, or 9 quarter prop, or for 
 other purposes they may suit ; and, as 
 they pay the most money, from 4 to 5, 6, 
 and 8d. per tree, by taking the largest 
 out it admits more light to the oaks, and 
 prevents them being drawn up too tall 
 for navy purposes ; the smaller larch can 
 be left a few years longer, without detri- 
 ment to the oaks, till they arrive at that 
 size. If a small larch should be too near 
 an oak, by shortening the branches from 
 overhanging, it may stand a few years 
 longer till it arrives at a proper size, if 
 there is room on the other sides. 
 
136 
 
 By pursuing this plan the greatest 
 possible advantage is derived, at the same 
 time accelerating the growth of oaks and 
 other wood. Before the expiration of 20 
 years the larch may be all cleared, also ma- 
 ny of the elms and ash may be taken out, if 
 they should be found to be injuring the 
 oaks, as I have before shewn. It is very 
 probable that, in some situations, trees 
 may arrive to a greater degree of growth, 
 if properly taken care of from the very 
 first. When the oaks are arrived from 
 about 10 to 12 or 14 feet high, it will be 
 time to begin to spread them to form 
 crooks and knees when a proper crook 
 occurs. — Therefore at this time, whatever 
 encroaches upon the oaks, or is much 
 higher, should be removed, or a very few 
 years neglect will ruin them beyond the 
 art of man to remedy ; as they will soon 
 rush up to a great height, without side 
 branches, or those natural crooks that are 
 of such essential service in ship timber. 
 
 After all the care which may be taken 
 to cause the oak to form those natural 
 crooks, limbs, and knees, which may be 
 
137 
 
 done by art in assisting nature, there will 
 be still plenty that will grow straight. 
 The quick growth of the oak among 
 larch or other shelter, is truly astonishing. 
 In 1823 I measured the leading shoot of 
 an oak among the larch ; it grew, in 1 year, 
 5 feet H inches, and several others from 
 4 feet to 4 feet 6 inches in length. From 
 this fact any one may be able to judge 
 what progress they will make ; but, it 
 must be observed, they will not grow that 
 length for two years together, as the next 
 year they will form side-branches if they 
 have room, otherwise they will ascend in 
 height ; which strongly shews the neces- 
 sity of plenty of room. — From what has 
 been said it must be evident, how much 
 care and judgment are required at this 
 critical period ; for, without them, all a 
 planter's fond hopes may be frustrated, 
 and he knows not why. 
 
138 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 On the advantage of keeping plants free 
 from the various shrubs, or herbage, that 
 overgrow and exclude the light, (for air 
 cannot be excluded) and prevent the in- 
 crease and healthy state of the leaves and 
 branches. 
 
 Having shewn what may be accomplished 
 by proper care and attention in a short 
 time, I must now endeavour to point out 
 more fully the causes that may and do 
 operate to disappoint a planter both of 
 his pleasure and profit ; when gentlemen 
 plant, they are too apt to think no further 
 care necessary than merely to keep out 
 cattle or sheep from the plantation for a 
 certain time, and as they generally plant 
 by contract, without duly considering the 
 proper kinds of trees, or to what uses they 
 may be ultimately applied ; it must how- 
 ever be planted, and then little more per- 
 haps is thought of it by the proprietor 
 himself for a long time after. 
 
139 
 
 Respecting the kinds of trees proper to 
 plant, perhaps I may give an opinion 
 hereafter. The plants, as to kinds, should 
 be suited to the particular soils and situa- 
 tions. After planting, the utmost care 
 should be taken to keep every plant as 
 clear as possible from being encroached up- 
 on by long grass, fern, whins, broom, bram- 
 bles, or any other thing that excludes the 
 light and prevents it making branches 
 and leaves ; as, from what I have said and 
 shall have to observe, I am strongly of 
 opinion, almost to demonstration, that 
 the chief part, if not all, the nutriment is 
 taken in by the leaves of some kinds, and 
 of course in a greater or less degree by all 
 kinds, of forest trees. Care should there- 
 fore be taken, from the very first, to cut 
 or beat down every thing around the 
 plant ; but whins or heath may be neces- 
 sary and useful in cold situations, for a 
 time and at a little distance, so that the 
 stem of the plant has free access to the 
 light ; but if it is close to the stems, the 
 plants cannot produce leaves or branches, 
 consequently cannot thrive, and the whins 
 
140 
 
 or whatever it is soon outgrow the plant, 
 meet at top, and exclude the light ; of 
 course they soon turn sickly and die if 
 not relieved, particularly those kinds of 
 plants that are so long after planting 
 before they make a shoot.* 
 
 I have seen plants of every kind, even 
 the larch, totally destroyed in 3 years, 
 from planting where whins and other 
 herbage are thick and luxuriant. But 
 the effects of neglecting to cut the whins, 
 briers, thorns, broom, or such stuff, from 
 among larches, are more destructive to 
 them, (if not totally killed) than to oaks, 
 elms, and ash ; these kinds, if not killed, 
 
 * I shall not in the course of this work mention the 
 air as being so essential as light to the growth of plants, 
 yet there is no doubt but they are mutually necessary ; 
 because, if we cut away all the side and under branches 
 from trees, or if after they have grown so crowded toge- 
 ther that they have decayed of themselves for want of 
 light, and although plenty of air may be admitted, yet 
 the air is of such a nature that it cannot be excluded. 
 Thus, we find by experience that plants in the shade, 
 or where they have the most air, will not thrive, 
 which has induced me to lay such stress on the necessity 
 of admitting a free exposure of plants to the light. 
 
141 
 
 may recover in some measure when the 
 stuff is cut away, by cutting it off or ma- 
 king fresh shoots from the bottom, but 
 the time that is lost cannot be recovered. 
 Not so with the larch and other of the fir 
 tribe : for if they lose their tops or leaders, 
 from the friction of the winds on their ten- 
 der shoots, by the prickles of the whins, or 
 the branches of any other kind of thorns, 
 briers, broom, or any thing that grows 
 near them, and if they once lose their 
 leader and become shrubs crooked or bent, 
 they are fit for none of the purposes before 
 stated, not even for shelter. But though 
 the larch, from its quick growth, may keep 
 its head above the whins or other stuff, 
 yet, as it can make neither side-branches 
 nor leaves, it runs up in length without 
 increasing in substance : and I am apt to 
 think the roots only increase in proportion 
 as the branches do, the ground under all 
 thick cover becoming spongy and light by 
 the field mice, and other causes ; and that, 
 whenever this is cut away, the larches are 
 top-heavy, and, having no firm hold of the 
 ground, are blown down or fall by their 
 
142 
 
 own weight, and are crooked, particularly 
 if there have been heavy snows, to press 
 all this weight of cover to the ground, and 
 they become hide-bound by the friction 
 of the branches against the prickly whins. 
 It is astonishing the damage the larches 
 and other plants receive from this cause 
 alone, among strong whins, or other trees 
 or bushes that interfere with them ; so 
 that, by these untoward events, which may 
 be avoided, the larches are destroyed, or 
 so injured as to be unfit for any of the 
 purposes I have mentioned, as a crooked 
 larch when young is fit for nothing except 
 charcoal and the fire. It follows, there- 
 fore, that all those beneficial results and 
 profits, which I have proved may be de- 
 rived by early care and attention, may as 
 easily be lost by neglect and want of con- 
 sidering these things ; as many gentlemen 
 may see by looking into their own planta- 
 tions. — There are places in these planta- 
 tions that were planted on as good land as 
 any, that have produced those fine larches 
 and oaks I have been speaking of, but 
 which were neglected clearing ; and last 
 
143 
 
 winter I had to cut and plant it over 
 again, when I found it was nothing but 
 whins and broom that had done all this 
 injury. 
 
 Now let any gentleman, or those persons 
 who have the care of woods for the benefit 
 of others, reflect and think of having lar- 
 ches worth 6d. and 8d. a tree, at 11 or 12 
 years growth, and oak, ash, elm, &c. of 
 the sizes before described, or to have the 
 mortification to have the ground to clear 
 and plant over again, at a much greater 
 expence than the first, without deriving 
 any profit whatever from the first expence. 
 This may arise through ignorance, and 
 not duly considering these matters, or the 
 fear of incurring a greater expence than 
 there was any prospect of getting back in 
 a person's life-time, (and I have known 
 instances where plantations have been 
 suffered to be injured from other motives, 
 which it is not necessary to state here.) 
 
 Without the greatest care and judgment 
 in contriving and executing such kinds of 
 work, the expence may easily be made 
 greater than it ought to be ; but, if gen- 
 
144 
 
 tlemen understood the nature of these 
 matters a little more themselves, and not 
 trust too much to the opinions of others, 
 (who perhaps know less) they would soon 
 see if these things were conducted proper- 
 ly ; which it is the design of this work to 
 make as plain as possible, that gentlemen 
 may understand it themselves, and not 
 rely so much upon the opinions of others. 
 Having shewn that plants, in the very 
 best land, may be destroyed in 3 years by 
 the over-growth of whins, broom, &c. 
 how much does it behove gentlemen 
 who plant for present profit, their child- 
 ren and posterity, to attend to these mi- 
 nute circumstances, when it is seen what 
 great good may be derived from it, or lost 
 by inattention : losses that can hardly be 
 remedied ! And the longer this work of 
 keeping the young plantations clear of 
 these enemies to all their hopes, the 
 greater the expence and difficulties be- 
 come every year it is so neglected ; first, 
 in the time it takes to look for the plants, 
 and when it grows large, (if the plants are 
 thickly planted) to find room to lay it 
 down without laying it on the plant. 
 
145 
 
 When broom is cut, the roots will die ; 
 but whins, and most other things, will 
 shoot again. I prefer cutting the whins 
 off with a hook to stubbing them up by 
 the roots, and laying the tops upon the 
 stumps ; by this means the greater part 
 of them will be smothered ; it is much 
 sooner done, of course at less expence, 
 and not so much danger of hurting the 
 plants. 
 
 When land, addicted to whins or broom, 
 is planted with forest trees, they may be 
 permitted to grow 3 or 4 years and be of 
 great use, if care is taken the second or 
 third year to go over them in Summer, 
 when the leaves are on them, with a hook, 
 and cut the whins or broom from around 
 each plant, which they are likely to smo- 
 ther. This must be done before the 
 plants are hidden, so much more time be- 
 ing taken to look for the plants, which of 
 course occasions a greater expence ; a 
 great object, when gentlemen understand 
 and manage their own affairs ; but it 
 happens sometimes, when people manage 
 
 T 
 
146 
 
 other's affairs, they are not so exact in 
 these matters as if it was their own 
 property. 
 
 Having shewn the utility of taking 
 care, from the very first year of planting, 
 that the young plants are not injured by 
 rank herbage, whins, broom, birch, wiDows, 
 or any thing else ; the next thing, of the 
 utmost importance to accelerate their 
 growth and to form timber for particular 
 purposes of shelter and ornamental trees, 
 is the manner of pruning, or assisting 
 them by art. But before I present my 
 ideas upon that subject, I must be allowed 
 to explain the utility of leaves and bran- 
 ches in a healthy state to the growth of 
 trees ; for that without branches there can 
 be no leaves, must be evident to every one. 
 
14? 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 On the Utility of leaves and branches. 
 
 A great deal is said upon the goodness of 
 soils for forest trees ; but I am strongly 
 of opinion that, after a plant is established 
 and got root in the ground, less depends 
 upon that circumstance than is generally 
 imagined ; or else why such fine timber 
 in such opposite extremes, from the very 
 best soils to the very worst, even upon 
 barren rocks, and upon sands and soils of 
 such different qualities ? If trees derived 
 their nutriment from the earth by the 
 roots, is it not strange they should arrive 
 at nearly the equal perfection we daily 
 see in such different situations?* 
 
 * I have seen the jumper, mountain ash, lilac, elder, 
 and other plants, grow to a considerable size upon old 
 walls of churches, and other buildings in ruins, a great 
 height from the ground, where the mortar was as hard as 
 the stones, and where the roots could have no communi- 
 cation with the ground ; whence do plants, in such situa- 
 tion?, derive their nutriment ? 
 
148 
 
 That some plants derive most of their 
 nutriment from the gases in the atmos- 
 phere, is evident, (then of some why not 
 others?) for instance, the houseleek, and 
 other succulent plants and mosses, lichens, 
 and some others, natives of Europe ; but 
 when we consider the vast quantities of 
 plants so constituted, natives of the tro- 
 pical climates, such as the Mesembryan- 
 tkemums, Cactuses, Aloes, and many others 
 of the like nature in those hot countries, 
 where the rains are less frequent than in 
 the temperate climates, the earth must of 
 course be more dry and parched, and those 
 plants perhaps could not grow if they did 
 not derive their support from the gases in 
 the atmosphere ; and as heat and vapour 
 are the causes of them, they may be more 
 abundant in hot climates than in cold ones. 
 
 From the little knowledge and experi- 
 ence I have of plants, natives of the tro- 
 pical climates, that are cultivated in stoves 
 in this country, it occurs to me that they 
 have generally thicker leaves, and those of 
 a more succulent nature, than plants of 
 more temperate or cold climates ; but this 
 
149 
 
 I must leave to persons who have more 
 experience than myself, to the naturalist 
 and the man of science ; it perhaps may 
 afford a hint to Sir Humphrey Davy, or 
 others, to inquire into or make experi- 
 ments upon. 
 
 That some of the ever-greens are so 
 constituted, as to take in their nutriment 
 by the leaves, appears to me probable ; 
 most of the Erica tribe will certainly die 
 if ever they lose their leaves, either from 
 too much water or too little given to the 
 roots ; as any person, conversant with the 
 culture of that tribe, can testify. It might 
 afford a good experiment, to strip the 
 leaves entirely from a vigorous healthy 
 plant of this tribe, and supply it with 
 water the same as the other plants 
 with their leaves on, to see if it would 
 live and vegetate. I believe it would not ; 
 but I may be mistaken. 
 
 The ever-greens of the fir tribe appear 
 of the same nature ; if ever they lose all 
 their leaves, from whatever cause, they 
 never make fresh ones, like some of the 
 deciduous trees ; the juniper is of the 
 
150 
 
 same nature. An experiment upon these 
 kinds may be worth a trial. This sort 
 of tree never throws up shoots from the 
 roots or stems, if cut below any living 
 branches with leaves on ; some of the 
 close-grained kinds of the deciduous trees 
 appear of this nature, such as the beech 
 and hornbeam ; these plants seldom, if 
 ever, spring from the root, if cut below 
 a living branch. 
 
 The evergreen pine tribe, which arrive 
 to such an immense size in the cold cli- 
 mate of the north ; the leaves of these 
 plants seem peculiarly formed, at least 
 different to other kinds, perhaps to imbibe 
 the gases that are afloat in the atmosphere 
 in those cold regions ; for, I understand, 
 they will scarce live, or become a stunted 
 shrub, in the hot climates ; perhaps other 
 plants, natives of those cold climates, may 
 have a general peculiarity in the structure 
 of their leaves, similar to those in the 
 tropical climates ; but this is a subject I 
 must leave to be considered by those who 
 have visited those regions, and who may 
 have had better opportunities and qualifi- 
 cations to pursue such inquiries. 
 
151 
 
 Here we cannot but admire the wisdom 
 and goodness of that Being who has en- 
 dowed every vegetable, as well as every 
 animal, with organs proper to derive its 
 support from the various food the differ- 
 ent climates and situations afford ! 
 
 Some of the evergreens, such as the 
 common laurel and some others, as well 
 as the deciduous trees of a soft nature, 
 possess sufficient nutriment in the roots 
 and branches to enable them to vegetate 
 again after losing their leaves, or having 
 been cut below any living branches. — 
 I shall mention, in this place, a few more 
 instances why it appears to me probable, 
 or rather certain, that plants derive their 
 chief support from the atmosphere through 
 the medium of their leaves. 
 
 The pine apple, vines in stoves, or any 
 exotics in pots, whenever the leaves get 
 diseased and injured, the plants will not 
 thrive, nor will the fruit be good for any 
 thing, supply them how you will, by earth 
 or water, to the roots ; the same is the 
 case with melons in frames, when attacked 
 and injured by insects ; and particularly 
 
152 
 
 the gooseberry, which is familiar to every 
 body, when the trees have been stripped of 
 their leaves by the caterpillars, the fruit 
 never grows afterwards, and is good for 
 nothing ; nor does the tree increase in 
 size till it has made fresh leaves, however 
 good and rich the soil may be, nor even 
 then but little in comparison with those 
 in the same soil that have escaped the 
 ravages, and have retained their leaves in 
 a healthy state ; but the same is the case 
 with most fruit trees under the same 
 circumstances. 
 
 I have seen an account, but I do not 
 recollect where, of a gentleman having 
 either 3 or 500 different apples grafted 
 upon one stock or root ; which root must 
 draw the same kind of nourishment from 
 the ground, that must be altered and 
 modified by the different formed leaves, 
 some of which, perhaps, are barely percep- 
 tible with the best glass, to cause such a 
 variety of fruits, both as to colour and 
 flavour. Does it not seem as reasonable, 
 or more probable, that the different form- 
 ed leaves absorb more or less of the gases 
 
158 
 
 that are afloat in the atmosphere to cause 
 such variety. 
 
 It might not be amiss to ask, where do 
 the poisonous vegetables derive their nox- 
 ious qualities from, the earth or the at- 
 mosphere ? There does not appear to be 
 that variety in the roots of dhTerent spe- 
 cies of plants which there is in the struc- 
 ture and form of their leaves, to derive 
 such different ingredients from the soil ; 
 if there should be the same or similar 
 ingredients in the soil that are supposed 
 to exist in the atmosphere, I am again 
 under the necessity of confessing that 
 here is another subject above my compre- 
 hension, and which must be left for others 
 to inquire into ; only I may be allowed to 
 observe, that the fibrous parts of the roots 
 of most vegetables appear nearly alike to 
 the naked eye. 
 
 I once thought that the plants under the 
 shade of the larches, or when excluded 
 from the light by any other cause, provi- 
 ded they kept alive, and although but few 
 leaves or branches were made, that the 
 roots kept increasing all the time ; but 
 
154 
 
 this I have since had reason to believe is 
 an error, as it appears tolerably certain 
 that trees increase in size from the leaf 
 or leaf-buds, and not by the flower or 
 fruit-buds ; such at least appears to be 
 the opinion entertained by the ingenious 
 Dr Darwin, in his Phytologia, who adds, 
 that those leaf-buds are extended also 
 along the roots, therefore the roots can 
 only increase in proportion to the leaves 
 and branches. Thus it will appear proba- 
 ble, that when plants are in such dark 
 and shady situations they make fresh 
 efforts each Spring, while they remain 
 alive for a month or two, to produce 
 leaves, before the grass, fern, and other 
 stuff get above them, so as to exclude 
 the light from them ; without which, 
 leaves cannot perform their proper func- 
 tions. — It may then be presumed that the 
 roots grow ; but when the plant has done 
 growing from the loss of leaves, or ex- 
 cluded from the light by a thick shade, 
 the roots grow no more that season ; but 
 as the roots are in their natural place, 
 thev remain in a healthy state till the 
 
155 
 
 next renewed efforts in the following 
 Spring, except in wet or very cankered 
 bad soils, when, being in an inactive state 
 so long, they become diseased, and finally 
 die, as they cannot be relieved, like the 
 tops, by pruning or cutting away the 
 diseased part. 
 
 From these considerations I am inclin- 
 ed to think, that the decay and diseases 
 of most kinds of trees arise principally 
 from external injuries to the leaves and 
 branches ; but let that decay arise from 
 whatever cause it may, I have never ob- 
 served the roots of cankered apple or pear 
 trees, when taken up, diseased like the 
 branches. But whether the leaves supply 
 the tree with all or part of its food, or 
 whether not at all, it matters little to my 
 argument, as it appears tolerably certain 
 that plants cannot thrive fast without a 
 multiplicity of leaves, and those too in a 
 healthy state. Whatever therefore tends 
 to prevent them acquiring branches and 
 leaves, or that injures the leaves either by 
 natural diseases, such as frosts, blights, 
 caterpillars, or various other causes, as 
 
156 
 
 the friction of the branches of one tree 
 against another, or against whins, broom, 
 briers, thorns, or any thing of the like 
 nature, must be an error in practice, and 
 an injury in nature ; and whatever will 
 increase the amount of branches and 
 leaves, and preserve them in a complete 
 and healthy state, so as to perform their 
 proper functions, must be a desideratum 
 " devoutly to be wished ; " and that they 
 can be so increased or diminished by art, 
 I think I have sufficiently shown. But 
 as I have a little to say on the nature 
 and utility of pruning forest trees when 
 young, I hope I shall be able on that 
 occasion to throw some additional light 
 upon the subject. 
 
157 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Pruning and training. 
 
 When trees are planted and stand clear 
 of any thing else, oak, elm, beech, and 
 some others are apt to throw out two, 
 three, or more strong branches of nearly 
 equal strength, which soon cause them 
 to grow from the very ground, forked 
 sometimes into two or three, leaving no 
 straight stem, or else it becomes like a 
 shrub, and remains in that state for years. 
 When there are many shoots of nearly an 
 equal size, my method is, to shorten the 
 longest and strongest from about 2 to 3 
 feet from the stem, leaving the straight est 
 and best for a leader, to form the stem or 
 trunk of the future tree. This should be 
 done as soon as they have made shoots of 
 that length in Winter or Summer, but 
 this was done chiefly in Summer when we 
 were relieving them from the branches 
 of the larches and other injurious neigh- 
 bours. This operation will be found to be 
 
158 
 
 a great saving of expence, for by often 
 going over the same ground, though but 
 little to do, soon mounts up to a large 
 sum ; and shortening those strong shoots, 
 checks the great currency of sap in them, 
 causes them to shoot out numerous small- 
 er ones which produce a greater quantity 
 of leaves, and throws the greatest flow 
 to the main stem, whether in ascending 
 or descending ; and by thus shortening 
 them, those side-branches do not increase 
 in thickness near so much afterwards, as 
 if left so to ramble out as to form any 
 large unsightly and often injurious knots 
 on the stems of trees, if suffered to grow 
 to a large size before they are taken off. 
 Frequently, when the plants are in a vi- 
 gorous growing state, I pinch off or short- 
 en with the knife a strong vigorous shoot 
 of the same year's growth, which answers 
 the same purpose, and gains a season in 
 growth. The side shoots should not be 
 suffered to get large but numerous, till 
 they arrive at the height you wish them 
 to branch out, to form crooks if it is oak 
 timber. I never take, or recommend to 
 
159 
 
 take, any of the side-branches off close at 
 this early period, except there are any 
 very large or much thicker than the 
 leader, and plenty of smaller ones ; then 
 it would be proper to take the large one 
 off close to the stem, to encourage the 
 leader till it has got the ascendancy. 
 
 Another great benefit attending the 
 shortening of these strong branches upon 
 young trees, and which it will be proper 
 to mention in this place, is, that it pre- 
 vents them from being split or broke in 
 heavy snows, as a weight of snow hanging 
 upon those long branches bends them to 
 the ground, and frequently splits them 
 from the main stem. Great damage is 
 done to plantations from that cause, as 
 scarce a plant that had the branches 
 shortened was injured by the great snow 
 in 1 823 ; but those which had not been 
 shortened were very numerous, and were 
 greatly injured by the splitting of the 
 branches from the main stem, so that it 
 became necessary to cut many a fine plant 
 close off to the ground. What then must 
 be the case with those plantations which 
 
160 
 
 are not regularly gone over to rectify 
 these damages? Thousands of plants, 
 that would have been fine trees, have 
 been entirely spoiled ; a loss visible to any 
 one, who will but observe and look into it. 
 From the experiments it will be imme- 
 diately seen, that the more numerous the 
 branches the faster the tree increases in 
 girt, which is the principal object ; and 
 by closely attending to this rule for a few 
 years, the oaks will have arrived at a 
 proper size and height to begin to form 
 crooks and knees, if ship timber is the 
 object in view. — It is well known that 
 timber so formed sells the dearest, where 
 it can be conveyed cheaply to canals or 
 rivers ; and when the oaks are arrived at 
 from 5 or 6 to 12 or 14 feet in height, 
 with two good shoots of an equal size and 
 well jointed together, they will not split 
 by the winds, heavy snows, or any other 
 natural causes. — This is a very material 
 circumstance, and well deserving the no- 
 tice of those who have plantations, or who 
 have the management of them for others. 
 If forks are left that are not well formed 
 
161 
 
 by nature, they will, when the trees get 
 up. either from heavy snows or high 
 winds, split and break off, or open and 
 let in wet, which spoils the trees ; nor are 
 they ever so strong, if none of those acci- 
 dents happen, as those natural or proper 
 ones well chosen; these firm joints will 
 sometimes occur of themselves, and should 
 be left whenever they do, but they may 
 be formed by art. When the leading 
 shoot is strong and of a sufficient height 
 from the ground, I break out the central 
 at middle leading bud, when probably 4 
 or 5 eyes or buds will make strong shoots 
 from nearly the same place, as the buds 
 are numerous, close together, and strong 
 on that part of the shoot. Two or three 
 of the strongest should be left, and of as 
 equal a size as can be ; the rest should be 
 shortened near the ends to encourage the 
 growth of those that are left, to form more 
 crooks as they advance in height. When 
 the central shoot is broken out, the others 
 will shoot a little, inclining to the horizon, 
 and form a crook ; and as there are so 
 many shoots at that particular part, it 
 
162 
 
 will become knotty, and where the bud 
 was broken out the bark will join and 
 grow over, and form one of those firm 
 tough crooks so useful in ship- building. 
 Sometimes I cut the last year's shoot out. 
 if too weak, in an horizontal form, close 
 to the extremity of the preceding year's 
 shoot, where the clusters of strong buds 
 are situated ; perhaps they may have 
 made side-shoots already, when you may 
 choose two or three of the best for leaders, 
 and stop or break the leading bud out of 
 the others. But joints should not be 
 chosen from the middle of the shoots 
 where the buds are so far apart and not 
 opposite each other, as they might split, 
 or probably one might get the lead of the 
 other ; but when two strong buds are op- 
 posite each other, the shoot may be cut 
 off in an horizontal form just above them, 
 which will cause it to grow over and form 
 a joint, though perhaps not so strong and 
 good as those from the clusters of buds at 
 the extremities of each year's shoots, the 
 buds being closer together at each end 
 than in the middle of the shoots. 
 
n;:> 
 
 Where there are larches among the 
 young oaks it would be easy to fasten 
 some of the oaks that were not too strong 
 to be hurt in bending, but of a sufficient 
 length to the larches in a bent position 
 for about 2 years, with twisted withes, 
 tarred twine, bass matting, or branches of 
 the larch ; thus you may have crooked 
 timber in any form or quantity that might 
 be thought desirable. This is the plan I 
 have pursued for training the oaks for 
 naval purposes in his Majesty's wood at 
 Chopwell, which being a very windy coun- 
 try, it would be wrong, in my opinion, to 
 encourage the oak timber to grow to a 
 great height, especially for naval purposes; 
 when from about 10 to 12 or 14 feet, every 
 art should be used to form the trees for 
 ship timber ; after they get above that 
 height, they may be safely left to nature, 
 only giving them room enough for their 
 heads to spread. After the head is form- 
 ed and got of some size, the side-branches 
 may be cut off, but I believe it is not ne- 
 cessary to oaks, as they will be but small 
 after having been shortened ; they will 
 die of themselves as the top gets large 
 
164 
 
 and overshades them. After the first 
 crooks are formed, by attending to the 
 same rules more may be formed, and as 
 all the branches except the leaders should 
 be shortened a little, the main ones would 
 grow the faster. When trees are left to 
 nature, one main shoot will generally keep 
 the lead ; and, if the tree has room, it 
 will throw out numerous side-branches, 
 of nearly equal sizes, as it advances in 
 height, without one useful piece in it 
 except the main stem. 
 
 This cut represents an oak pruned 
 according to art, to form crooked or ship 
 timber, with three shoots at the first 
 formation. 
 
lGi 
 
 #1 
 
 This cut represents an oak in its na- 
 tural state, if not too much crowded. 
 
 
 This cut represents a young oak fast 
 ened to a larch to make it grow crooked. 
 
166 
 
 ''~^i^?}rtvr~-~ 
 
 This cut represents an oak trained for 
 naval purposes, with only two shoots left 
 at the first formation. 
 
 Beeches must be treated in a very 
 different manner, if designed for timber 
 trees, as clear straight stems are requisite 
 in those trees ; the branches may be short- 
 ened the same as the oak till they arrive 
 to 14 or 15 feet high, or as high as a 
 person can reach with a light hook long- 
 handled, to shorten any stragglers or such 
 as are likely to make it grow forked, 
 and only the most upright and strongest 
 shoot should be suffered to grow without 
 shortening for a leader. 
 
167 
 
 When the trees have arrived to a suffi- 
 cient height with straight stems, and have 
 formed good heads sufficient to increase 
 the stem of the tree without the aid of 
 the lower ones that have been shortened, 
 they may be cut off close to the stem ; 
 for beech branches will endure in a living 
 state upon the trees till the stem has 
 swelled a foot or two over them, which 
 must be very injurious to the timber; any 
 one who will only observe when the bran- 
 ches are suffered to grow too long upon 
 beech trees, the stems are never fit for 
 any useful purpose, as the stem swells in 
 such an unsightly and irregular form, 
 owing to those thick branches being left 
 upon them, as they will scarce ever die 
 like an oak ; perhaps if they are shortened 
 when small, as it prevents them increasing 
 so in thickness when the tree advances in 
 height, they might not be of that detri- 
 ment to the stem, but would naturally 
 die away as the top gets above them and 
 excludes the light. I will appeal to any 
 gentlemen who have beeches in their plan- 
 tations, if three-fourths or nearly are not 
 
168 
 
 useless for any purpose except fire- wood, 
 by growing forked, and into numerous 
 branches and stems, and the forks grow 
 generally in such a manner as to hold the 
 water ; it is only for any person to notice 
 this circumstance, where there are beeches, 
 to be convinced of the correctness of what 
 I have stated, and how easily it might 
 have been prevented, or may be for the 
 future ; one single cut with a knife, hook, 
 or pinch with the thumb and finger, to 
 have shortened one of those branches 
 when they were small, would have made 
 a tree of great value, that is now fit for 
 nothing but fire-wood. This is a serious 
 loss, if gentlemen would but consider it ; 
 and the same holds good with many other 
 kinds of timber. 
 
 A person who understood the nature 
 of this work, (and I should not be doubt- 
 ful of making any person of common 
 capacity comprehend it in a few hours, 
 with practical instruction,) and what vast 
 numbers a person might do in a day, and 
 by repeating this once a year or once in 
 two, for a few years, what thousands of 
 
169 
 
 fine trees would be to be seen instead of 
 those useless, unsightly trees that are at 
 this day in most of the plantations which 
 have come under my observation. Any 
 gentleman, who takes pleasure in rural 
 affairs, might do thousands for his own re- 
 creation, when walking or riding through 
 his young plantations ; for, when the trees 
 are advanced a little in height, he could 
 shorten in a shoot with one or both hands 
 occasionally as he sits on his horse, either 
 in Winter or Summer, when in a growing 
 state, just as he has time or inclination ; 
 and when he understands it himself, he 
 could instruct any of his servants or la- 
 bourers how to do it, and judge when it 
 was properly performed or not. I have 
 endeavoured to make it as easy to be 
 comprehended by gentlemen as I possibly 
 could, for that very reason. 
 
170 
 
 These cuts represent two young beech 
 trees, where they have room in their na- 
 tural state, the branches not shortened. 
 
 This cut represents a beech growing 
 forked, where it has had less room at the 
 
171 
 
 parting of the two main brandies, is 
 generally a hollow that holds water, and 
 when the trees grow large extends a good 
 way down the stem, and spoils them when 
 they are young and have their branches 
 shortened, as I have been recommending. 
 When such shoots as these occur, one of 
 them should be cut off close to the stem 
 at first, that the place may heal over, 
 particularly where it is as strong or 
 stronger than the leader ; but experience, 
 with a little observation, will soon teach a 
 person what should be shortened or cut 
 off; if it appears likely to prevent the 
 stem swelling in a regular and even form, 
 it would be better to cut it off, particularly 
 if there be plenty of smaller branches near 
 it ; but, I believe, if the branches are 
 shortened in time, the stem would swell 
 in a regular even form, without cutting 
 very few if any of them close at this 
 early period, as every branch so cut off 
 deprives it of so much means of increasing 
 in thickness ; yet it must be noticed, that 
 very small branches will very frequently 
 cause a creat injurv to a beech tree in 
 
172 
 
 preventing the regular swelling of the 
 stem, and when that is observed there is 
 no doubt but they ought to be removed, 
 and as close to the stem as possible. In 
 fact, the beech appears to require, and 
 will be more benefited by, judicious and 
 timely pruning, than any other of the 
 forest trees. 
 
 The first cut represents a beech with 
 the side branches shortened when young. 
 
 The other represents it when the 
 branches have been taken off close to 
 the stem, after the head has made suffi- 
 cient progress to keep the stem in a 
 vigorous growing state. 
 
173 
 
 When beeches are designed for orna- 
 mental trees near gentlemen's houses, for 
 shelter, or to hide any particular object, 
 they then require a different management 
 again, by only just shortening the extre- 
 mities of the longest straggling branches 
 when they have extended as far as it is 
 wished, and to shorten all the strong 
 leaders but one, if forked trees are not 
 wished for. 
 
 For ornament and shelter on the out- 
 sides of plantations, and for hiding un- 
 sightly objects, no tree answers so well as 
 the beech, as it will branch or feather (as it 
 is sometimes termed) down to the ground, 
 and by shortening the branches at the 
 extremities, they will thicken by pro- 
 ducing more small ones, which with their 
 numerous leaves will make a thick skreen, 
 and, being so durable, will continue in that 
 state for ages ; but care must be taken 
 not to shorten the lower branches too 
 soon, or too near the stem, except any 
 one that has outgrown his fellows, because, 
 in all cases of ornament or skreens, nature 
 should be copied as much as possible, as 
 
174 
 
 the lower branches should extend, as they 
 will naturally, rather farther from the stem 
 than the upper ones, otherwise the trees 
 become naked at bottom, and the object 
 they were intended for defeated. 
 
 The side or lower branches on oaks or 
 elms are more liable to decay, when the 
 head of the tree gets up and overhangs 
 them, than the beech, therefore are not 
 so proper for skreens and shelter. Elms 
 should have their straggling branches 
 shortened the same as the others ; it is 
 a tree that is apt to throw out strong 
 forked straggling shoots in the first 
 years, which should all be shortened as 
 high as it is deemed necessary to have 
 clean straight timber; but if it is required 
 to have crooked elms for boat or ship- 
 building, or any other purpose where 
 crooked timber is required, they may be 
 trained similar to the oak for naval pur- 
 poses ; by shortening in the branches, 
 it keeps them within bounds and from 
 encroaching on their neighbours, causes 
 them to throw out numerous smaller 
 shoots, which increase the stem both in 
 
175 
 
 thickness and length, and make it fit to 
 take out the sooner. — I am alluding to 
 the Scotch or wych elm. 
 
 Ash wood, being required to be 
 straight and as free from knots as possi- 
 ble, must be kept to one leader, and 
 from any very strong side-branches; and 
 as it is a tender plant when growing, and 
 very apt to have its young tender shoots 
 nipt by the Spring frosts in low moist 
 situations, it is very apt to throw out two 
 shoots of an equal strength, which will 
 cause a fork, and of course spoil the tree. 
 Therefore these trees should be carefully 
 looked over, to keep them to one straight 
 leader, till they have got to 14, 16, or 
 more feet high, otherwise thousands of 
 fine ash are spoiled for want of this sim- 
 ple, easy, and cheap operation, similar to 
 the beeches, elms, &c. The ash being 
 very hardy, except when making its ten- 
 der shoots, is well adapted for high bleak 
 situations. 
 
 The natural growth of the Spanish 
 chesnut appears to form straight timber ; 
 but being a timber fit for ship-building, 
 
176 
 
 there is no doubt it can be trained by 
 art to form crooks, knees, or any form 
 required in the construction of ships, by 
 the same rules or something similar to 
 what I have stated concerning oak, as the 
 same will apply in respect of firm tough 
 crooks, &c. 
 
 The larch will bear cutting as well 
 as any of the other deciduous trees, 
 if done at a proper season. When a 
 young larch has lost, by any accident, its 
 leader, the next best upright shoot will 
 form one, if the others are shortened ; 
 if it grows rather horizontal, it might be 
 brought in an upright form by twisting 
 one of the branches on the opposite side, 
 drawing it in an upright position, and 
 fastening it with a kind of knot ; I have 
 saved hundreds by this easy operation. 
 
 After a larch has been planted and 
 had 3 or 4 years growth, it is a pity a 
 plant, that in as many more years would 
 be of so much value, should be lost for 
 want of such a little trouble. When it is 
 considered what a number of trees or 
 acres of ground a skilful active person 
 
177 
 
 could go over in a day, or what numbers 
 even a gentleman could prune or correct 
 when merely amusing himself in his plan- 
 tations ; and when we look forward to the 
 value of a well-formed tree of any kind 
 come to maturity, compared with one of 
 those great ill-formed ones that have been 
 left to nature or neglected, which are so 
 frequently to be met with, and which 
 when cut down, after incumbering the 
 ground perhaps from 50 to 100 years or 
 more, are of little value except for the 
 fire, and to contrast the difference, and 
 reflect that, with a few cuts of a knife in 
 the hands of a skilful person in its infancy 
 as it may be termed, would have made it 
 a tree of great utility and value ; after all 
 this, I say, how much it is to be regretted 
 that such great results should be lost, 
 from the want of applying in time to so 
 useful and simple a remedy ! 
 
 It is a very erroneous opinion, though 
 very common, to suppose if a larch has 
 lost its leader it is spoiled; because, when 
 young and in a vigorous growing state, 
 another leader may be formed, but not 
 
178 
 
 where it has been injured and overhung 
 by other plants, and the top and side- 
 shoots become weak and dwindling. 
 
 If ever the larch timber should be made 
 use of in the construction of boats or ship- 
 building, which it is probable it may from 
 its durable and tough quality when in a 
 moist state, it may easily be trained to 
 form crooks, knees, or any course required, 
 by taking out the leader and reserving one 
 or more of the best placed side- shoots, or 
 by fastening it to another as described 
 for oaks. — I have tried the experiment 
 upon a few to ascertain its practicability, 
 of which I have no doubt myself. 
 
 The Scotch fir sends out many side- 
 branches, which extend a long way all 
 round. If there are any other kinds 
 planted, such as oak, elm, beech, &c. the 
 Scotch fir branches should be shortened 
 the same as the larches ; having tried 
 the experiment upon a few trees, by 
 breaking out the leading or central bud 
 from the side-branches, and by cutting 
 off the last year's shoots in the middle, 
 with a hook similar to the larches or 
 
179 
 
 other deciduous trees, and find it to an- 
 swer well, as the branches will emit fresh 
 shoots from where they were cut off, it 
 prevents their rambling and overtopping 
 the other plants ; whether they would 
 make- shoots from wood of two or more 
 years' growth, I have not ascertained. 
 
 The spruce fir will bear the same opera- 
 tion, if done when young or near the ends 
 of the shoots, or by breaking out the cen- 
 tral bud of the side-branches, when ex- 
 tended as far as it is thought necessary, 
 or till they encroach or injure a tree that 
 is designed to remain as a permanent one, 
 which circumstance ought always to be 
 kept in view. This method will answer 
 well in the interior of plantations, as it 
 tends greatly to keep them within bounds 
 till they can be taken out to answer some 
 useful purpose, and keeps the plantation 
 warm for the encouragement and growth 
 of other wood without injuring it ; but 
 when they stand singly for ornament, or 
 on the outsides of plantations for shelter, 
 skreens, or blinds, perhaps it would not 
 be proper to shorten them ; although m 
 
180 
 
 respect to blinds, or for shelter, I am in- 
 clined to think it would answer well, by 
 thickening or making the branches more 
 numerous and close. A few experiments 
 might be useful, to try its effects in such 
 situations. 
 
 
 This engraving represents two beautiful 
 spruce firs with pendulous branches, sup- 
 posed to have been planted about 70 years, 
 growing singly by the side of a rivulet in 
 the pleasure ground at Hamsterley in the 
 county of Durham, the seat of A. Surtees, 
 esquire, and reckoned the most handsome 
 of their kind in the north of England. 
 
181 
 
 Their picturesque beauty, standing singly, 
 is particularly marked, and not having 
 been spoiled by being placed too near each 
 other, or encroached upon when young by 
 other trees, to prevent the fair and regular 
 spreading of their branches ; whether the 
 moist situation (being near to the stream 
 and sheltered by other trees and rising 
 ground) causes them to grow pendulous, 
 by a heavier weight of dew, rain, or snow 
 hanging longer upon their branches, I 
 cannot tell, and must leave it to the con- 
 jecture or investigation of the more curi- 
 ous and profound naturalist. 
 
 I am inclined to think that, by short- 
 ening the branches of Scotch, spruce, and 
 larch firs, in the manner I have described, 
 in the interior of plantations, when young, 
 will prevent those side-branches from be- 
 coming large and thick ; consequently 
 from making large knots in the timber, 
 which may be left on till the tree arrives 
 at such a size that they will be overshaded 
 by the top branches, when they will die of 
 themselves, as they do when planted thick 
 together and left in that state a long time, 
 
without producing those great knots which 
 are so injurious to the fir timber. 
 
 I have not had experience long enough 
 to be certain of it ; but I have seen very- 
 ill effects from bleeding, by cutting the 
 thick branches from the Scotch, spruce, 
 and larch firs, close to the stem, indepen- 
 dent of the injury it does them by pre- 
 venting their increase in thickness, (as I 
 think I have proved by the experiments) 
 besides making them so unsightly. — I be- 
 lieve the method I have been treating of 
 will be found far superior whenever it 
 comes to have a fair trial, I mean in re- 
 spect to leaving knots upon the timber; all 
 the other facts, I think, are indisputable. 
 
 It has often surprised me to see, near 
 gentlemen's houses, where plantations are 
 made for ornament, blinds, skreens, and 
 shelter, a quantity of trees crammed in 
 very thick to get a blind, &c. as quick as 
 possible, which are suffered to grow up all 
 together without ever taking one out till 
 all the side-branches are killed and the 
 trees become naked at the bottom, letting 
 in the cold winds through them worse 
 than if there were no plantation. 
 
183 
 
 I have before observed, that when gen- 
 tlemen have planted they feel great reluc- 
 tance to cut down or take out any part ; 
 but if they would once determine what 
 kinds of trees they wish to remain as a 
 permanent wood for ornament or shelter, 
 they would accomplish all these objects 
 by constantly observing to shorten the 
 branches of those trees which encroach 
 upon those that are intended to remain ; 
 and as soon as they are so near each other 
 that shortening the branches will not an- 
 swer, or that they overgrow the others, 
 then take them out entirely. By attend- 
 ing to this simple rule, you will have your 
 permanent trees with branches to the very 
 ground if required, from first to last, the 
 plantation close and thick at bottom, and 
 they may be made to form handsome trees 
 of their kinds; some maybe left to nature 
 unpruned, or trained to form what fancy 
 may suggest as fantastic trees, if such 
 should be the taste of the proprietor. 
 
 But if they are neglected, as is too often 
 the case, and suffered to grow all together, 
 you will soon have nothing but naked un- 
 
184 
 
 sightly trees about your mansion, with a 
 few branches only on one side, and per- 
 haps only a few at the top, with the very 
 objects they were intended to hide in full 
 view through the naked tall slender stems ; 
 but by attending to the rules I have been 
 describing, in about 10 or 15 years, all 
 those objects will be happily accomplished. 
 If a young gentleman, when he begins 
 planting, would but well consider these 
 things, what may he not live to see in his 
 days ? The most beautiful and ornamental 
 trees flourishing round his domain of his 
 own planting, with all his ideas of orna- 
 ment, blinds, skreens, or shelter accom- 
 plished ; instead of the dismal spectacle, 
 after a few years, of returning to the state 
 in which he first found it, all open, ex- 
 posed, and naked at the bottom ! 
 
 The engraved groups of plants in the 
 two following pages represent larches, 
 with oaks, beeches, or other trees, at 4 
 feet apart. 
 
k 
 
 
 These two cuts represent where the 
 branches of the larches have been short- 
 ened to admit light and the sun's rays, 
 and the straggling and strong branches 
 of the oaks shortened, with the central 
 bud broke out of the leading shoot of 
 some of them, to form crooked timber. 
 2 A 
 
186 
 
 %. ski* 
 
 
 These two cuts represent larches and 
 oaks at the same distance, and of the 
 same year's planting, not shortened, left 
 
187 
 to chance, or part of the lower branches 
 of the larches cut off close at the stem, 
 which must shew the difference of the 
 two modes in a striking point of view. 
 
 Having said so much about planting, 
 it will be supposed I might say what 
 kinds of trees would be best, but that 
 depends upon taste, local situation, and 
 other circumstances dependant thereon, 
 so that it is rather a difficult point ; how- 
 ever, I hope, without presumption, I may 
 submit my opinion on the subject. 
 
 In a general way, I would plant chiefly 
 oak and larch, as, from what I have shewn, 
 larch comes soonest to profit, and an ex- 
 cellent nurse to the oaks, provided you re- 
 move her in time, or she will soon spoil 
 them, varying the proportion according 
 to circumstances, because I consider the 
 oak as the most valuable timber. When 
 it becomes large enough for pit props, if 
 found too crowded it may be taken out 
 to advantage; and the undergrowth from 
 young oaks cut down is as profitable, and 
 perhaps more so, than from any other 
 wood, besides the noble appearance fine 
 oak woods have. 
 
188 
 
 In low situations, where the soil is rich 
 and deep, and by the sides of drains, ash 
 or elm may be planted ; my reason for 
 recommending to plant ash by the sides 
 of the drains is, they may be planted very 
 near to the edge, because in a few years 
 they would be fit to take out ; whereas if 
 oak or other wood, that is to stand a long 
 time, if planted so near would be apt to 
 be blown down, or undermined by the 
 washing away of the soil, if there is a cur- 
 rent of water ; besides there is more space 
 over the drains for their tops, before the 
 branches of the other trees meet, that 
 are planted further from the edge of the 
 drains, and ash is a wood that soon comes 
 to profit, and is not so injurious to others, 
 having fewer branches and less top than 
 some other kinds. 
 
 In low situations also the fir tribe i 
 be planted, either kind, separate or mixed, 
 as may be judged expedient by the pro- 
 prietor either for shelter, profit, or orna- 
 ment, as nurses and shelter to oaks and 
 other tender kinds, to protect them from 
 the effects of the frosts when in a growing 
 
ISO 
 
 state, as noticed before, and till they have 
 arrived at a sufficient height to be above 
 its influence when the firs should be 
 taken out. 
 
 In very high and cold situations more of 
 the fir tribe may be used; and where the 
 larch will thrive, it is certainly preferable 
 to any of the other kinds. 
 
 The sycamore, or plane as it is called 
 in the north, thrives well on high bleak 
 situations, and looks well as an ornamen- 
 tal tree on the outsides of plantations, or 
 on the highest parts if the ground is hilly; 
 it makes a grand object at a distance from 
 its dark green, thick, and the cloudy ap- 
 pearance of its foliage ; also in groups of 
 a considerable quantity together, it has a 
 noble appearance ; but it should never be 
 introduced in the interior of a plantation, 
 as it is a bad neighbour to others from its 
 spreading branches, thick foliage, and 
 quick growth, and but of little value till 
 arrived at a great size. 
 
 Nor do I approve much of birch or al- 
 der; they are bad neighbours to oaks, or 
 other plants of more value; the alder may 
 
190 
 
 be introduced for shelter in wet places, 
 where the larch or other firs will not 
 thrive ; but as they are a spreading tree, 
 where they have room the branches must 
 be shortened, if other wood is among them, 
 as described for the larches, or they will 
 soon do more harm than good. 
 
 Elms are not good trees to plant 
 among oaks, from their spreading and 
 quick growth, and being required to be 
 older and longer than larches before they 
 can be taken out, so as to derive any pro- 
 fit from them, when perhaps they may 
 have spoiled the oaks or other trees con- 
 sidered of more value or importance, if 
 ornament is an object ; but if the strag- 
 gling and strong branches are shortened 
 to keep them within bounds, they may be 
 left till they are fit for some useful pur- 
 pose ; perhaps it would be better to 
 keep such overgrowing trees in groups by 
 themselves, or with others of the like na- 
 ture, to derive the most profit from them, 
 for the weak cannot contend with the 
 strong with any chance of success among 
 trees, a principle which applies as well to 
 the vegetable as the animal world. 
 
191 
 
 If I might be allowed to offer my opi- 
 nion on the subject of taste, I cannot 
 help thinking that if all kinds of trees 
 were to be planted in groups of different 
 sizes, each sort by itself in the same plant- 
 ation, it would afford a more pleasing vari- 
 ety than the indiscriminate mode of mix- 
 ing trees promiscuously, and perhaps turn 
 to much more advantage to the proprietor 
 in the end ; as most kinds of flowers have 
 a more pleasing and grand effect when 
 planted in beds, or a considerable quanti- 
 ty of each sort together, than when scat- 
 tered at random one amongst another. 
 
 But of all trees that overtop and outgrow 
 the others, the poplar appears to have the 
 ascendancy, and therefore very improper 
 to be planted among others of a humbler 
 and slower growth; for before some of the 
 others have taken to grow, they will be 7, 
 8, or 10 feet high, of course they must 
 overtop and spoil all those that are near 
 them ; besides they are of no value till 
 arrived at a great age and size, and per- 
 haps not of much then. 
 
 Therefore, if any gentleman wishes to 
 
192 
 
 have a plantation of very tall trees in a 
 very short time, he cannot do better than 
 plant poplars; but by no means to plant 
 any other kinds with them, except perhaps 
 larches, to draw up tall and slender, for 
 some purposes they might be wanted for. 
 A few groups or groves of poplars, near or 
 at a distance, round a gentleman's domain, 
 will have a good effect, and make a plea- 
 sing variety ; but if they are planted as 
 nurses to other more valuable trees, which 
 are designed to remain for ornament and 
 future grandeur, it is going the very wrong 
 way to work, for they are sure to retard 
 and check the progress of other trees of 
 slower growth, such as oak, beech, and 
 Spanish chesnut, (which are certainly the 
 most useful and ornamental) by drawing 
 them up weak with naked stems, which 
 will make them very unsightly in orna- 
 mental plantations. 
 
 I have lately seen a striking example of 
 this at Lambton Park in the county of 
 Durham, the seat of J. G. Lambton, esq. 
 where the plants are crowded in at from 
 3 to 4 feet apart, with a great proportion 
 
193 
 
 of poplars and elms ; after growing a few 
 years the side-branches are cut off close 
 to the stem of all the kinds, without ta- 
 king any of them out, whereby they be- 
 come tall slender plants with naked stems; 
 and, as I have before shewn, it retards their 
 increase in girt, and at 20 or 30 years 
 growth they will be nothing but tall, na- 
 ked, slender, stunted, and unsightly trees, 
 where it is evident, ornament, blinds, and 
 shelter are designed, or required ; but 
 which will be certainly frustrated by the 
 mode at present pursued there, if it is 
 persevered in. 
 
 To those who plant, or make the holes 
 for the plants by the hundred, and to the 
 raiser of forest trees for sale, such a sys- 
 tem of close planting is very beneficial. 
 Not so to the proprietor, who is doomed 
 to a great and unnecessary expence, and, 
 what is still much worse, to severe disap- 
 pointment and chagrin, on finding, in a 
 few years, all his hopes frustrated by an 
 erroneous and pernicious system. But to 
 see the contrast between such plants, and 
 2 D 
 
194 
 
 the oaks and other plants, of only 12 years 
 growth from being planted, it is only ne- 
 cessary to walk through the Chopwell 
 plantations, a view of which would con- 
 vince any one, more than the greatest 
 multitude of words, of the truth of my 
 observation. 
 
195 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Undergrowth for corf-rods, and other purpo- 
 ses. — Thinning the oak stools in coppices. — 
 Remarkable size of some whins. — Causes of 
 the larch failing, and not thriving in wet 
 cohesive soils proved, also upon dry soils 
 abounding with whins, fyc. 
 
 As corf-rods are very profitable articles 
 as an underwood in some parts of the 
 country, it will be proper to say something 
 upon that subject. I have before stated, 
 what has been made from a small portion 
 of land on these grounds, and what may 
 be derived by proper management, with- 
 out materially injuring any other trees 
 that are among them. 
 
 The hazel, oak, Primus Padus, hagberry 
 or bird-cherry, and the mountain ash, are 
 esteemed the best, but the hazel has the 
 preference ; the birch will do if cut and 
 used in the Winter months, but does not 
 work well in the corves, if dried too much 
 and left till the Summer, therefore It 
 
196 
 
 should be cut early in the season, kept by 
 itself, and used as soon as possible ; by 
 pursuing this plan, I have sold great 
 quantities that must have been cut down 
 to waste, or if suffered to grow to be fit for 
 pit props would destroy or spoil every 
 other kind of wood among them, and the 
 oak grows well where the birch will jj be- 
 sides as corf-rods are cut every third year, I 
 believe birch will yield more profit in that 
 state than any other. The birch is a very 
 injurious and destructive plant to others, 
 and should by no means be encouraged 
 among more valuable forest trees, as 
 it comes very thick from seeds on land 
 adjoining, where birch has been cut down 
 or is growing, and will soon overtop and 
 smother every thing that is planted where 
 it abounds, except larches or poplars, if 
 it is not cut away when the size of a corf- 
 rod, or sooner if that article cannot be sold. 
 Instead of planting alder, birch, poplars, 
 and the sycamore as a mixture, if more 
 of the mountain ash, hagberry, and hazels 
 were introduced, where these articles for 
 corf-rods, etherings for hedges, or other 
 
197 
 
 purposes, are saleable, a greater profit 
 would accrue to the proprietor than from 
 the others ; after the hagberry and moun- 
 tain ash have arrived to a good size, they 
 should be cut over at the ground to pro- 
 duce straight rods the sooner, or they are 
 apt to form trees. 
 
 The hagberry, as it is called in the 
 north, or bird-cherry in the south, is a 
 most beautiful sweet-smelling ornamental 
 tree or shrub ; it is usually planted as a 
 flowering tree or shrub in the pleasure- 
 grounds and shrubberies of the nobility 
 and gentry, and it ought to be more gen- 
 eral, for the uses I have mentioned ; for 
 besides the very beautiful effect it has in 
 the woods in the Spring, its berries would 
 make a bountiful provision for birds, and 
 perhaps pheasants or other game would 
 feed on them ; what their principal pro- 
 perties may be I do not know, except that 
 they are of a very astringent quality, and 
 may be useful in a medicinal point of view, 
 if properly analysed by competent persons; 
 the wood, when arrived at a good size, is 
 hard, compact, and heavy, and may be very 
 
198 
 
 useful for many purposes, with which I 
 am not acquainted ; when young it is ex- 
 tremely tough, makes excellent walking 
 or riding sticks, and is a plant of quick 
 growth, therefore it appears to be of much 
 more value and better worth cultivating 
 than many kinds that are usually grown. 
 
 But as oaks make excellent corf-rods, 
 good for etherings for hedges, and various 
 other purposes when young, besides the 
 value of the bark, why not plant more 
 oak than is generally done, instead of so 
 many of those inferior kinds of trees, as 
 the oak is hardy, and will thrive and 
 flourish in almost any soil or situation if 
 properly treated ? 
 
 There has not been any thing planted 
 here with a view of that kind, except a 
 few thousand hagberries I have digged up 
 and planted in some moist situations, as 
 an experiment to make these woods as 
 profitable as I possibly could, without in- 
 juring the oaks; the hagberry seems to 
 thrive and flourish in a moist situation, 
 but it also grows well in a dry one. 
 
 When oak coppices or young oak trees 
 
199 
 
 are cut down, great quantities of young 
 shoots are produced from the stools, as. 
 they are generally termed ; when, after a 
 few years, it is customary and proper to 
 go over them and thin some of them out, 
 reserving from 3 to 5 or 6 of the straight- 
 est and best placed ones upon a stool for 
 stores. By taking the slender upright 
 ones from among the stores, the greater 
 part of them will make excellent corf- rods, 
 which more than pay the expence of 
 thinning, and leave a great profit. 
 
 When the middle ones are taken out, 
 the stores are properly thinned for the 
 first time, suppose in 6 or 7 years from 
 the cutting ; after the middle upright 
 ones are well thinned out, there remain 
 a great number of weaker ones growing 
 in an horizontal direction near to the 
 ground, which successively every 2 or 3 
 years will turn to great profit for corf-rods, 
 (if profit is a desirable object,) which 
 are far superior for that purpose to the 
 upright ones, for by growing slower they 
 are tougher, and it gives an opportunity 
 of going over the stools the oftener, to 
 
200 
 
 correct any casualties that may have oc- 
 curred among the stores, from winds or 
 snow breaking them down, which is often 
 the case, or to cut away the thorns, briers, 
 &c. that may be doing hurt, each time 
 paying more than the expence, and should 
 be kept in view where profit and utility 
 are the main objects ; besides these hori- 
 zontal side-shoots by no means injure the 
 stores, but may very probably greatly be- 
 nefit them, by absorbing more of the 
 gases that are produced from the decay- 
 ing leaves and vegetable matter of the 
 former year's growth, which may be con- 
 veyed by the greater quantity of leaves 
 the shoots produce to the roots, strength- 
 en them, and part reascend with greater 
 vigour to the central stores. At any rate 
 if it cannot be proved that they do harm, 
 it must be very wrong to cut them out 
 prematurely, at a very great expence, 
 without deriving any benefit whatever, 
 and sacrificing all those profits and ad- 
 vantages ; I have mentioned this circum- 
 stance, because there are some persons 
 who will have them all cut away at the 
 first thinning. 
 
201 
 
 I have before stated, when speaking of 
 planting the wet ground in Dean Forest, 
 how the larch and other trees died in the 
 Spring months, and the method I recom- 
 mended of raising the holes with a good 
 square turf or sod of earth, and laying the 
 ground dry at the same time and partly 
 by the same operation, and what a benefi- 
 cial effect it had in such soils. 
 
 From the experience I have had, since 
 I came to Chopwell, of planting larches in 
 such wet places, and particularly if the 
 under stratum is clay or inclining to clay, 
 or the soil of a close adhesive nature, 
 without taking care to lay it dry by drain- 
 ing, which will be very expensive in such 
 kind of land, as the drains would require 
 to be so very numerous. By the method 
 of raising the holes or places where the 
 plant is to stand, the draining may almost 
 be accomplished by that operation, except 
 some of the principal ones, which need 
 not be so numerous if this method is 
 adopted. But to plant larch in such land 
 without laying it dry by perfectly drain- 
 ing, or raising the places where the plants 
 2 c 
 
202 
 
 are to stand with soil, it would be far bet- 
 ter not to plant any larch at all, as I hope 
 to shew by what has occurred here ; oak, 
 ash, elm, &c. will live and thrive after 
 some years, but the larch is certain to 
 fail without that precaution. 
 
 When I arrived at Chopwell, in the 
 Autumn of 1819, there were three farms 
 to plant, containing near 400 acres, which 
 had not been farmed in the best manner, 
 with a good deal of wet land upon them 
 that had not been drained, and the ditches 
 were all nearly choaked up for want of 
 cleaning out, which made the ground 
 nearly in the state of an open common 
 or fell. 
 
 A very considerable part of the land was 
 overrun with whins or furze, of an extra- 
 ordinary growth ; and having had instruc- 
 tions from the commissioners, that every 
 kind of work was to be done in the most 
 economical and cheap manner, and to sell 
 and make the most of every thing that 
 could be sold and turned into money, to- 
 wards defraying the expences attending 
 the clearing, draining, and planting the 
 
203 
 
 ground ; and as there were great quan- 
 tities of these strong whins, with a few 
 rejected small branches of oak, that had 
 been cut down to clear the ground, to fill 
 up the vacancies with larches, I was told 
 nothing could be made of the whin 
 stalks, &c. 
 
 However, as the stubbing and clearing 
 the ground of them caused great expence 
 and left no profits, and having received the 
 orders as before stated, I thought it my 
 duty to make inquiries how to dispose of 
 them so as to gain something towards 
 defraying the expence of clearing the 
 ground, and I sold as many of the strong 
 stalks of the whins that were burnt into 
 charcoal, (which answered some purposes 
 very well) as amounted to ^§44 4s, and 
 from the offal small wood to ^gll 4s, 
 making a sum of £55 8s; after paying all 
 the expences of dressing the stalks out, 
 burning and delivering it to the forges, it 
 cleared £20 towards the other expences, 
 where there would not have been a shil- 
 ling made ; besides affording employment 
 to a number of poor people, and work 
 
204 
 
 was very scarce in this neighbourhood at 
 that time. ■ From the whin stalks and 
 some other things I made about £90 
 that season, where there would not have 
 been so many shillings towards the ex- 
 pences of preparing the land for planting. 
 
 It perhaps may be interesting or amu- 
 sing to many persons, who never saw such 
 furze or whins, to state the size and extent 
 of some of the latter that I measured, 
 which may surprise and give an idea of 
 what state part of these farms were in at 
 the time they were to be planted; one whin 
 stalk measured nearly 8 inches in diame- 
 ter, 23 inches in the girt or nearly 6 inches 
 the square, and another 21 inches in girt, 
 which spread out into great arms or 
 branches like a little tree, with nearly a 
 foot of wood in one of them. 
 
 I also measured the extent of ground 
 another whin bush had covered, and all 
 from one original root; it was 9 yards in 
 diameter, and nearly of a circular form ; as 
 the branches had extended themselves 
 they had taken fresh root in the ground, 
 so that it took two men a full hour's hard 
 
work to grub it up by the roots ; the whins 
 in some places were 8 and 9 feet high, and 
 broom in a very few years will get to that 
 height if close together. It would seem 
 superfluous to ask, what chance have 
 small plants that are perhaps from 3 to 5 
 or 6 years before they begin to grow, even 
 in more favourable situations ? I would 
 ask, what chance have plants of any kind 
 to grow among such shelter as this ? Yet, 
 strange as it may appear, there are people 
 who maintain that it is necessary for 
 shelter, and that the plants grow the bet- 
 ter for it ! 
 
 But to return — About 200 acres were 
 planted in 1820, and that being a favour- 
 able year the larch plants succeeded very 
 well, except in some particular places 
 where the ground was wet, and had not 
 been sufficiently drained and laid dry ; 
 this was planted the one half larch, one 
 fourth oak, and the rest a mixture of 
 plants, alder, ash, beech, elm, and syca- 
 more. 
 
 The next year (1821) the commissioners 
 ordered an alteration to be made in the 
 
206 
 
 following proportions, for the land to be 
 then planted, nearly 180 acres, viz. one 
 half oak, only one fourth larch, and the 
 rest with the mixture as before stated. 
 But 1821 proving a very dry Spring and 
 Summer, with some sharp frosts in the 
 Spring months, nearly every larch on 
 those wet parts died, and those which did 
 live made but little progress in compari- 
 son with what the plants had done the 
 year before. It was thought the larch 
 seemed too thin, not considering the real 
 causes of its appearing so, and it was 
 ordered to mend over all the failures of 
 every kind of plants with nothing but 
 larch, which was accordingly done ; but 
 1822 proving a very dry season also, with 
 some sharp frosts in the Spring, those 
 used in mending over failed again in the 
 wet places and from the same causes, and 
 those planted in 1820 appeared better by 
 two years' growth than those planted in 
 1821, even where they had taken upon the 
 dry ground ; which shews what difference 
 there may be between one year's planting 
 and another, even where the land is of the 
 same quality. 
 
207 
 
 The failures have been mended over 
 three times since they were planted with 
 nothing but larch, and in every year they 
 have failed, though the last two years were 
 favourable seasons to fresh planted trees ; 
 yet nearly all the larch died in those wet 
 parts, besides great quantities on the dry 
 good land that have been destroyed by 
 the overgrowth of whin, broom, brier, 
 birch, and other rank herbage. 
 
 The larches that have been used on this 
 last planted ground in the 4 years, and 
 which was planted at the first with only 
 680 plants less per acre than the original 
 complement of one half larch, make 1470 
 upon an average to the acre. As very few 
 of the oaks or other plants have failed from 
 the wetness of the land, except what have 
 been smothered or destroyed from other 
 causes, I would ask what has become of 
 all those larches that have been planted, 
 when it is clear there has been a consi- 
 derably greater number than were upon 
 the first planted grounds ? Yet this year 
 (December, 1824) it has been thought 
 proper to plant 100,000 more larches upon 
 
208 
 
 about 170 acres of this thinly planted land, 
 being the fifth time of planting it with 
 larch in 4 years, and there have been 
 planted this fifth time on some of the 
 wettest parts near 1000 larches to an acre; 
 on an average with these last there 
 have been planted upon this ground up- 
 wards of 2000 larches per acre in the 4 
 years. Surely there must be some other 
 cause of their being too thin besides plant- 
 ing only 680 less per acre at first than the 
 original complement of 1 860 to an acre ; 
 on some parts, where they took kindly 
 and have not been injured or destroyed, 
 they are thick enough. 
 
 I shall now endeavour to explain the real 
 cause of such a deficiency, the means of 
 preventing those losses, disappointments, 
 and extra expences ; and to caution gen- 
 tlemen who plant for profit or pleasure, 
 to inquire into and ascertain the real cau- 
 ses of such failures from practical and 
 experienced people, or they may be easily 
 led into fresh expences, without being 
 any nearer their object. 
 
 There have been provided, in the nur- 
 
209 
 
 sery at Chopwell, to supply and fill up all 
 vacancies that may occur, after Mr Falla 
 had completed his contract, and the larch- 
 es have been thinned out, 245,000 oaks, 
 11,000 Spanish chesnuts, 10,000 ash, 5000 
 elm, and 5000 spruce and Scotch firs, 
 making a total of 276,000, or 345 plants 
 to an acre on an average for 800 acres ; 
 as there may be about 100 acres of old 
 wood land that requires none, and in all 
 probability these will be found insufficient. 
 Surely the knowledge of such facts as these 
 should induce every proprietor to take 
 every possible precaution to insure the 
 success and well-doing of the first planted 
 trees. 
 
 Having previously stated that some 
 seasons are much more unfavourable to 
 newly planted trees than others, which 
 was the case in 1821 and 1822, which 
 killed nearly all the larch in the wet parts 
 that had not been sufficiently laid dry ; 
 it is well known that such soils when soa- 
 ked with water all Winter, and as late as 
 May in this country sometimes, when it 
 sets in dry the soil gets hard, contracts, 
 2 D 
 
210 
 
 cracks or opens, and lets in the air to the 
 roots, and hy absorbing less moisture from 
 the atmosphere than those soils that have 
 laid dry all the Winter, the sharp frosts 
 and cutting easterly winds that generally 
 prevail at that season in all probability 
 kill them, the larch coming so early in- 
 to leaf before it can have made any 
 fresh roots ; in fact, how can larches make 
 any roots when they are sodden all the 
 Winter with water, and the dry weather 
 sets in all at once when the earth be- 
 comes of a sudden quite hard, dry, and 
 unfit for any newly planted trees to vege- 
 tate in it ? Such appears to be the cause of 
 the plants dying in such soils in that state, 
 But this very soil, where the plants have 
 so often failed, if it lies dry all the Win- 
 ter, is not so subject to contract and crack 
 when the dry weather sets in, and the 
 larches are preparing to make fresh roots 
 before the trying season (April, May, and 
 June) arrives, when the frosts and cold 
 winds prevail, and the soil, from the action 
 of the atmosphere, pulverises and closes 
 about the roots the same as if they were 
 in the driest grounds. 
 
211 
 
 Unfortunately, I have not had presence 
 of mind to try any upon holes raised here, 
 hut I am certain of its effects ; because 
 on the tops of the ridges, or by the edges 
 of the drains where the soil has lain dry 
 all the AVinter, the plants have succeeded; 
 and in the next row, where the water has 
 lodged all the Winter, the plants are dead ; 
 although, in as much and as good soil, I 
 have counted 16 plants of larch of the 
 last year's planting all dead in a single 
 row of about 150 yards long. The method 
 of planting here, by taking only a small 
 spit of earth out with a spade of a semi- 
 circular form, and putting the plant in the 
 hole under that one sod, is rather against 
 the plant succeeding, particularly so in 
 those sodden stiff soils, because it will 
 naturally contract when it becomes dry, 
 and let in the air to the roots before they 
 have taken hold of the ground ; and also, 
 if the plants are large with great roots, as 
 part of the roots are doubled back in the 
 planting and remain out of the ground, 
 which was the case with part of these last 
 planted larches. I believe, before the end 
 
212 
 
 of the ensuing Summer, there will not 
 be one in ten alive of those planted, where 
 they have failed four times before ; but 
 time will try it, and it would be a fortu- 
 nate circumstance if those should die 
 where they have been planted in drier 
 ground, close by the side of an oak, ash, 
 or elm, or at the most within 2 feet of one. 
 Some of these plants are just starting 
 to grow very vigorously, therefore it must 
 be evident if the larches live they will 
 destroy or injure the oak or any other 
 plant, or must be cut out before they can 
 be fit even for a hedge-stake, consequently 
 the expence attending such a work must 
 be superfluous. A considerable quantity 
 of the small oaks or other plants must 
 have been destroyed, as they could not be 
 perceived at that season of the year among 
 the long close grass, whins, and other filth, 
 by the planters, who performed the work 
 by the thousand.* 
 
 * Since writing this, my predictions have been verified, 
 as I suppose there is not one in 100 alive in the wet co- 
 hesive land, and very few in drier land, from the other 
 causes specified. 
 
213 
 
 I had written the foregoing observations 
 on the causes of the larch dying, when I 
 was induced to reconsider and try if pos- 
 sible to ascertain the real cause of the 
 larches so frequently failing in such land ; 
 a circumstance which I believe I have 
 been so fortunate as to discover, and which 
 I consider of very material importance to 
 communicate to the public, and to guard 
 gentlemen who plant from falling into 
 such errors, being certain, from what has 
 so often happened before, that these last 
 planted larches had no better chance to 
 succeed than the first, but rather a worse, 
 from being such large plants, and such as 
 but few people would have planted, par- 
 ticularly in such land. 
 
 About the middle of March, after the 
 plants had begun to protrude their buds 
 and look green, I was induced to pull up 
 some of them in the wet ground to ex- 
 amine them, when I found all the roots 
 quite black and decaying into the very 
 stem ; although the stem and leaves were 
 fresh and green, and seemingly in a very 
 promising state; and now (in the middle of 
 
214 
 
 April, 1825) they have the same promising 
 appearance, and the leaves considerably 
 advanced in growth, although the root and 
 stem, even to above the surface of the 
 ground, are quite dead. This fact is new to 
 me and may be to others; and as this has 
 been a remarkably dry Spring, it may be 
 called an unfavourable season to newly 
 planted trees. It might be said that the 
 dry weather has killed the plants, when 
 the real cause is quite the reverse, having 
 been killed by over much moisture to the 
 roots long before the dry weather set in. 
 
 I had fortunately planted a few larches 
 upon some raised turfs in parts of these 
 wet places, which roots at this time, as 
 well as those upon the dry ground, are 
 fresh and vigorous, and will be a striking 
 proof of the superiority of that mode of 
 planting upon such sort of soils,* or of 
 
 * In the middle of August, after an extreme dry and 
 warm Summer, I must remark that nearly all those planted 
 upon the raised turfs are alive and in a growing state ; 
 although the plants I used had been some time planted 
 in the wet ground, as I did not take them up and replant 
 them till some weeks after Christmas. 
 
215 
 
 deferring the planting of such parts till 
 late in the Spring ; for I have observed 
 larches growing with great vigour in land 
 much wetter than that where the plants 
 have so often failed, and in this ground 
 where any of the plants that stoocf a little 
 drier and were not killed, and whose roots 
 are in the same soil, are growing very 
 vigorous, while it kills those that have 
 been taken up out of a dry rich soil, and 
 planted before Christmas into soils where 
 the water stagnates most of the Winter ; 
 but where it does not appear to stagnate, 
 and where the soil is of a very strong co- 
 hesive nature, the roots of the plants have 
 decayed in the same manner ; in some on- 
 ly the lower parts of the roots decay, and 
 that part which is above the level of the 
 water remains alive, and enables them to 
 make a few fresh roots near the surface, 
 which barely keep them alive for some 
 years till they have made more numerous 
 roots, from which cause it is thought they 
 are sickly and will not thrive in such soils. 
 The wet does not appear to act so upon 
 the roots of the oaks taken up and planted 
 
216 
 
 in the same soil and time, which proves 
 what I have before observed on this sub- 
 ject, and one very important lesson may 
 be learned from this fact. If the land is 
 not sufficiently drained or laid dry, by 
 raising the places where the plants are to 
 stand, not to plant such land with larch 
 till late in the Spring ; but when it can be 
 done earlier and all at the same time, it 
 can be accomplished much easier and at 
 less expence, than going twice over the 
 same ground ; besides, as the larch is a 
 tree that vegetates so early, it does not 
 appear to be a plant to be left till late in 
 the Spring before it is planted out for 
 good. We have planted them with great 
 success on some raised holes in Dean Fo- 
 rest, late in the season ; but they had been 
 taken up in good time, and laid in the 
 earth by the heels, as it is generally term- 
 ed, before they were planted. 
 
 Another circumstance this fact corro- 
 borates is, that the sap does not retire to 
 the roots in the Winter season, as suffici- 
 ent is left in the stem and branches to 
 keep them alive for some months, and to 
 
217 
 
 vegetate when the roots and parts of the 
 stem are quite dead, as exemplified in 
 this instance of the larches. 
 
 It also proves another circumstance of 
 great importance to all planters, and ought 
 to be kept in mind, that the roots of new- 
 ly planted larches will decay by remaining 
 in a dormant state all the Winter, in land 
 soaked with water, or of a strong cohesive 
 quality, which they must be in after re- 
 moving till they have made fresh roots. 
 
 The knowledge of such facts as these 
 should make gentlemen consider well the 
 experience, principles, motives, interest, 
 or connections of those in whom they 
 confide, and to whom they often surrender 
 their own judgment. 
 
 Another cause of so many larches 
 failing, on the very best and driest land, 
 is from the overgrowth of the whins 
 and other rank herbage, that have not 
 been cleared away from them ; this stuff, 
 growing so close together, gets up in 
 height, overtops and shades the plants, 
 which in a year or two are totally killed or 
 spoiled, because they are deprived of the 
 2 E 
 
218 
 
 power of increasing their leaves and bran- 
 ches, nor can the leaves perform their 
 functions in the shade, or without that 
 light which nature has so liberally assign- 
 ed them. 
 
 I have noticed one particular instance, 
 corroborative of what I have been explain- 
 ing, which I think it right to state in this 
 place ; on a particular spot of dry rich 
 land, more than an acre that had been 
 overrun with some of those strong whins 
 before alluded to, which had been cleared 
 and the whins burnt upon it, and had a 
 single ploughing about 8 months before 
 it was planted, but no crop taken from it, 
 the land as good as any upon the farm, 
 and planted in the usual manner with 
 the other land. On a part of this the soil 
 was taken off to the very gravel before it 
 was planted, and on this part the larches 
 and other plants that were first planted 
 are all alive, healthy, and vigorous, parti- 
 cularly the larch, which is upwards of 6 
 feet high ; whereas upon all the other part 
 of that rich fine land there is scarcely a 
 plant to be seen, having been injured and 
 
219 
 
 killed by the close rank whins and other 
 herbage, which have completely prevented 
 the plants from making either leaves or 
 branches ; but where the soil was taken 
 off there could be little or no grass or 
 whins for the first year or two, and 
 there the plants are alive, and growing 
 vigorously, as before noticed ; but such is 
 the case in all places abounding with an 
 overgrowth of whins, or any thing else 
 that excludes the light and room from 
 the plants to make leaves and branches. 
 But as this case was so striking, I thought 
 it of importance to mention for the in- 
 formation of gentlemen who plant, and 
 who might think such stuff necessary for 
 shelter, and doing no hurt to the young 
 plants, to shew the errors and wrong ideas 
 they may conceive or be led into, if not 
 well understood or inquired after by them- 
 selves, and to convince them that merely 
 planting and then leaving them to chance 
 is not the most beneficial way. 
 
 I have frequently seen, and noticed in 
 this work, that the plants may all be de- 
 stroved in the second or third vear after 
 
220 
 
 planting them, and if they are suffered to 
 remain in that state (vainly hoping to see 
 them get above it) any number of years, 
 say from 10 to 20, then instead of having 
 plantations in the state I have shewn it 
 possible to have them, they have the mor- 
 tification to see them overrun with useless 
 stuff, or with a few ill-formed crooked 
 trees, the land to clear again and plant 
 afresh, after the loss of so much valuable 
 time. 
 
 I have dwelt particularly on this subject, 
 because I have met with people who pos- 
 sitively assert and maintain that what I 
 have shewn to be so injurious and destruc- 
 tive to plants is in so many ways ne- 
 cesssary for shelter, and that they thrive 
 the better for it. 
 
 It might appear unnecessary to allude 
 to such evident facts, because I need only 
 appeal to any person, who has an onion 
 bed or a field of turnips, what sort of a 
 crop he would expect if he neglected to 
 weed his onions or thin out his turnips," 
 and that at a very early period ; when he 
 came to look for his crop at the end of the 
 
221 
 
 year, he would find himself miserably dis- 
 appointed. Just such is the case with 
 forest trees ; but, as I have observed, there 
 are people who maintain the contrary 
 opinion, and say that the plants will get 
 up through all the stuff that overhangs 
 and shades them ; here and there a plant 
 may get its head above it, but look at it 
 when the stuff is cleared away from it ; a 
 tall dwindling crooked thing, without any 
 side-branches, and unable to bear its own 
 weight, and is what may be termed top- 
 heavy, has to be cut off at the root, and 
 the ground to be planted over again to fill 
 up all vacancies, or have the ground only 
 half stocked, which is a great loss ; I said 
 half stocked, perhaps not a quarter, and 
 all for want of a little care and expence 
 during the first few years after planting ; 
 for, as Dr Franklin expresses himself, " all 
 is lost for want of a little care at first ; " 
 and about what ? Why a thing as simple 
 as the horse-shoe-nail ! 
 
 To prevent loss and insure success to 
 those who plant, either for pleasure or 
 immediate profit, (and most people who 
 
plant, it may be presumed, have one or 
 both those objects in view) I would 
 strenuously impress the necessity of 
 laying the ground dry, where it is ne- 
 cessary, by draining and raising the pla- 
 ces where the plants are to stand with a 
 good sod of earth, as I have before 
 pointed out, which will cause the ground 
 to be much drier, and will be done at less 
 expence than digging the holes previously ; 
 the success will be certain, and no time 
 lost, as is the case when the first planted 
 trees fail ; because those used in the filling 
 up of vacancies can never have so good a 
 chance as the first planted ones, nor put 
 in at so cheap a rate, owing to the grass, 
 rank herbage, and other stuff increasing 
 in strength every year after land is enclosed 
 for planting ; therefore the first expence 
 is always the least, if well done. 
 
 Where the land is sufficiently dry and 
 proper for planting, the only thing neces- 
 sary at first is to beat down or cut away 
 the grass, &c. from around each plant, 
 wherever it is likely to overgrow and shade 
 it, or grows so close that the plants cannot 
 
make side-shoots and leaves, till they are 
 out of danger ; and to attend to shorten- 
 ing the long straggling branches, and 
 keeping them to one leader, as before 
 explained. By such care and management 
 it is impossible to calculate the amount 
 of the early and certain advantages to 
 be derived from the practice here recom- 
 mended. 
 
224 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Distances to plant trees — Spoiled for want of 
 pruning, as well as by injudicious pruning — 
 To prune the young plants in the nursery 
 and plantations ; the Summer and Autumn 
 seaso?is the best — Trenching ground for 
 plantations — Account of trees, their in- 
 crease in bulk in a given time, endeavoured 
 to be ascertained — Spanish chesnuts thrive 
 in high and cold situations — Further re- 
 marks on the food of trees — How increased 
 in bulk — Sap remains in the branches all 
 the Winter, proved. 
 
 Respecting the distances for planting 
 forest trees, there is such a diversity of 
 opinions, it is not necessary to say much 
 on that head, as every person who plants, 
 must or should act upon his own judg- 
 ment ; but if care is not taken to relieve 
 them from the encroachment of each 
 other, or to take them entirely out before 
 they injure or destroy each other, (which 
 will happen before they are of any or 
 
225 
 
 little value) it would be the safest and 
 cheapest way to end on the sure side, by 
 planting moderately thin. 
 
 It may not be amiss to observe, that 
 when oaks, elms, beeches, or chesnuts have 
 plenty of room, by not planting too close 
 at the first, or by timely taking out the 
 nurses, or other trees, that they may be 
 equally spoiled and rendered useless for 
 want of pruning, by running all to bran- 
 ches, as well as by that erroneous and 
 disgraceful method of cutting all the side- 
 shoots off at the bottom, and then suffer 
 them to run into any kind of top after- 
 wards ; but pruning is thought necessary, 
 and it must be done, because somebody 
 else does it, and by persons generally who 
 know no more the nature or reason of it 
 than a child, just like the story of a sheep 
 jumping over the battlements of a bridge 
 into a river, one went first, and the rest 
 all followed to their destruction. 
 
 It is of great importance, and attended 
 
 with beneficial results in many ways, to 
 
 prune young forest trees in nurseries 
 
 before they are taken up for planting out 
 
 2 F 
 
226 
 
 for good, as it can be done more expe- 
 ditiously, consequently cheaper, if it is 
 thought necessary to prune them before 
 they are replanted in the plantations ; 
 but what I chiefly allude to is the accele- 
 ration of their growth in the nursery, by 
 shortening in all the strong side-shoots, 
 and not cutting them clean off as some 
 do, reserving the strongest and most cen- 
 tral one for the leader ; this work should 
 be done in the Summer months when the 
 shoots are young and tender, when it can 
 be done by pinching the ends of the 
 young shoots off, increases the leaves, 
 causes the plants to increase wonderfully 
 in thickness and height, and by the mul- 
 tiplicity of leaves increased this way it 
 shades the ground, keeps down the weeds, 
 and operates as a vast saving of expence 
 to those persons who think it necessary 
 to their nurseries of young plants to be 
 clear of weeds, as a person who under- 
 stands it could do a great deal in a few 
 hours, and I do not exaggerate when I 
 say that nearly the produce of two seasons 
 will be gained by it. 
 
Never in the course of my professional 
 experience did I ever see such improve- 
 ments in the growth of plants as in 
 the Summer I adopted this plan, to the 
 oaks and chesnuts that I pruned in this 
 manner, as well as to the plants that 
 were planted out in the young plan- 
 tations. I3y doing it in Summer, the 
 Winter pruning becomes unnecessary, and 
 there are no shoots to pick or rake off 
 the ground ; but if it has been omitted in 
 Summer, it must be done in the Winter, 
 and continued every Summer and Autumn 
 afterwards to the strong and straggling 
 side-shoots, for the oak and chesnut gen- 
 erally make two and sometimes three 
 shoots the same year, one in the Spring, 
 and another after Midsummer or in the 
 Autumn ; a person will perform a great 
 deal more of this work in Summer than in 
 the cold Winter days, and the advantages 
 of pruning at that season are very great 
 if duly considered. 
 
 As vast sums of money are often 
 expended in trenching the ground and 
 muking holes for planting, which might 
 
deter many from the attempt who have 
 but little money to spare for the purpose, 
 and who think the plants will not succeed 
 without such preparation, by digging a 
 hole and putting a plant in (if not too large) 
 at the same time, and keeping the grass- 
 side uppermost, particularly if the ground 
 is wet, answers the same purpose as ma- 
 king great holes before the time of plant- 
 ing, as oftentimes a very large hole is made 
 for a plant with a very small root ; but 
 which ever way is practised, the work 
 should be well performed. Therefore, 
 when there is no visible advantage, the 
 most expeditious and cheapest method 
 ought to be adopted, where the saving of 
 expence is an object. 
 
 Trenching the ground, no doubt, 
 is of considerable advantage to young 
 plantations, if they are regularly attended 
 to for some years afterwards, to keep down 
 any weeds and filth that may get up, by 
 hoeing or any other method ; but as it is 
 attended with a very serious expence in 
 the first instance, and a continual one 
 afterwards, if kept clean as it ought to 
 
229 
 
 be, to derive the supposed benefit from it, 
 otherwise the expence would be thrown 
 away. There are but few persons who can 
 adopt that plan to any great extent, and 
 a good deal of damage is often done to the 
 plants by the hoeing, and growing of crops 
 among the plants where that is adopted, 
 as the crops if luxuriant will have the 
 same effects upon small plants as weeds 
 and other filth. 
 
 For shrubberies and small plantations 
 near to a house, where a plantation is re- 
 quired quickly, it may be necessary ; but 
 by following the plan I have recommended 
 and pointed out, would obviate all this 
 useless and additional expence, if proper 
 care is taken for a few years at first to go 
 over once or twice a year, as occasion may 
 require, to beat down or cut away all grass 
 or other rubbish from around each plant, 
 and to give an occasional pruning when 
 necessary. If the ground should be hard 
 or very steril, to put a little better earth 
 to the roots of the plant at the time of 
 planting, to facilitate their establishment 
 in the ground, which is of material impor- 
 
230 
 
 tance, would save a great expence, and 
 in most cases answer the same purpose. 
 
 It seems to be the opinion of many 
 persons, in the counties of Durham and 
 Northumberland, that the Spanish ches- 
 nut will not thrive in so cold a climate, 
 except in particularly warm situations ; 
 but I shall here mention a few instances, 
 that have come to my knowledge, where 
 they have throve, and perhaps they may 
 in other places similarly situated, if fairly 
 tried. 
 
 In Gibside woods is a Spanish chesnut, 
 by the coach-road-side, which measures at 
 this time (1824) at 4 feet from the ground, 
 7 feet 2 inches in girt ; a very fine tree, 
 but it has been evidently crowded in its 
 early growth. There is another near the 
 chapel, which measures, at the same 
 height, 7 feet 3 inches in girt. — In the 
 same woods are some silver firs, probably 
 planted at the same time, by the coach- 
 road-side, that measure, at 4 feet from 
 the ground, one 8 feet in girt ; another, 
 near to the stables, 8 feet 3 inches ; and 
 another, down one of the avenues in a 
 
231 
 
 moist soil, 9 feet girt. These trees are 
 upwards of 100 feet in height. 
 
 There are also beeches, planted at the 
 same time, supposed from 90 to 100 years 
 since, when the grounds were laid out by 
 a Mr William Joyce. 
 A beech near the chapel measures, at 4 
 
 feet from the ground, ... 8 feet girt. 
 One by the coach-road-side, ... 8 ft. 9 in. 
 
 Another near to it, 8 5 
 
 And one near the monument, 8 6 
 
 An elm near the lodge, 7 1 
 
 And an English elm, at the east 
 
 end of the terrace near the hall, 8 8 
 A larch, probably planted at the 
 
 same time, near the stables, 7 4 
 A Scotch fir, near the stables, 7 7 
 Another do. do. ... 6 10 
 
 And another do. do. ... 6 6 
 
 Also several yew trees, that must have 
 been planted when the grounds and walks 
 were laid out, which measure in girt from 
 2 feet 9 inches to 4 feet 6 inches. There 
 are some oaks, that appear to have been 
 planted when the other trees were ; one 
 measures in girt, at 4 feet from the 
 
232 
 
 ground, 8 feet 3 inches, another 8 feet 4 
 inches. — These trees are the finest of their 
 kinds, and had not been so much crowded 
 as some of the others, which are in conse- 
 quence drawn up tall with but few bran- 
 ches, and are not near the size in girt. 
 
 Respecting the exact time these trees 
 were planted, I have endeavoured, by 
 every means in my power, to ascertain 
 the fact, both from Mr Ralph Fen wick, 
 the present steward for the Gibside estate, 
 and from Mr John Stanley Joyce, nurse- 
 ryman in Gateshead, the latter of whom 
 is at this time upwards of 70 years of age, 
 and grandson of the before-mentioned 
 William Joyce, and from several others. 
 Mr Fenwick thinks they have been plant- 
 ed only about 80 years, as he informed 
 me there are two silver firs at Streatlam 
 full as large as those at Gibside, which are 
 known to have been planted about 80 
 years since. But Mr Joyce appears to 
 make it certain they must have been 
 planted upwards of 90 years ; so that, 
 perhaps, it might, from the various ac- 
 counts I have heard, and from the best 
 
233 
 
 conclusion I can form from them, reason- 
 ably be supposed they have been planted 
 about 95 or 96 years. 
 
 There is one silver fir, in the west 
 plantations at Gibside south from the 
 chapel, which I have ascertained for a 
 fact to have been planted in 1761, the 
 year of a great riot at Hexham, particu- 
 larly remembered from that event, and 
 which at this time measures, at 4 feet 
 from the ground, 6 feet 6 inches in girt, 
 has been planted 64 years, and has in- 
 creased in girt rather less than an inch 
 and quarter a year on an average for that 
 period. 
 
 Respecting the growth of the Spanish 
 chesnuts, Gibside may be considered a 
 favourable situation, and particularly as 
 they had been sheltered by other plants 
 when young ; but, I have been informed, 
 there have been finer chesnut trees cut 
 down there than any at present standing 
 in those plantations. 
 
 There is now growing at the Leases 
 near Gibside, belonging to John Scaife, 
 esquire, a Spanish chesnut, at the outside 
 2 G 
 
of a narrow belt of trees, fully exposed to 
 the west winds, and partly under the drip 
 and shade of other larger trees, which 
 measures, at 4 feet from the ground, 4 
 feet 6 inches in girt ; it is a healthy fine 
 tree considering its exposed situation. — 
 An ash near the house measures, at 4 feet 
 from the ground, 7 feet in girt ; an elm 6 
 feet 10 inches ; and a beech, in the hedge- 
 row adjoining the turnpike road, 6 feet 6 
 inches. — These trees have been planted 
 about 75 to 80 years, from the best in- 
 formation I could get. 
 
 Upon Tairfield Moor, a much higher 
 and bleaker situation than either of the 
 former, there is now growing, in a narrow 
 belt of plantations near a farm-house 
 called Barker 's-Close, a Spanish chesnut, 
 planted in the year 1777 ; a fact of which 
 I have no doubt, as I had the information 
 from the person who held the plants when 
 a boy at the time of planting ; it measured, 
 in the Autumn of 1824, at 3 feet from 
 the ground, 3 feet 3^ inches in girt ; so 
 that, in 47 years, the time it must have 
 been planted, it appears to have increased 
 
235 
 
 nearly 40 inches in girt ; an amount little 
 less than an inch per year, and truly won- 
 derful for so exposed a situation. In the 
 same place are oak, beech, elm, and larch 
 trees, but this chesnut is as good and 
 healthy as any of them. The soil is of a 
 cold and wet nature, and the whole plan- 
 tation is not much more than a quarter 
 of an acre, and 22 yards in width. 
 
 The tender shoots of the chesnut, in 
 high situations, are not so liable to be 
 killed by the Spring and Summer frosts 
 (which often happen when the plants are 
 making them) as they are in lower, damp, 
 or moist places. From whence it appears 
 that the Spanish chesnuts will thrive in 
 much higher and colder situations than 
 has been generally imagined, particularly 
 if they are sheltered in their infancy by 
 other plants. 
 
 From these facts it will appear that the 
 oak, chesnut, ash, beech, elm, and silver 
 fir, will increase in girt from about an 
 inch to an inch and a quarter per year on 
 an average of 100 years, if they have 
 sufficient room to make branches ; for the 
 
236 
 
 trees that I measured were the finest and 
 largest of their respective kinds, and had 
 never wanted room for their branches to 
 spread freely ; whereas those, which have 
 not had that advantage, do not arrive at 
 near the size. The Scotch and larch have 
 not attained the thickness of the silver 
 fir and some other trees, yet the yew ap- 
 pears to increase in size about half as fast 
 as the other kinds of trees ; and it seems 
 to me tolerably clear that very small young 
 trees will increase more in girt in one year 
 than those at a more advanced age. But 
 these experiments I have not attempted 
 for a sufficient length of time to be assured 
 of the fact ; nor have I yet been able to 
 ascertain how much a tree, from 50 to 100 
 years growth, increases yearly ; but from 
 what I have proved by the experiments it 
 appears to me pretty evident that they 
 grow fastest when young, some of the 
 oaks having increased from one inch to 
 an inch and a half, and in one instance 2 
 inches in girt in one year ; and one of the 
 larches with shortened branches increased, 
 
237 
 
 upon an average of 4 years, very near 2-J 
 inches per year in girt.* 
 
 The large oaks, on the Crown estate at 
 Chopv'eli, are of about 55 years growth, 
 and as all the timber at that time was cut 
 down to the size of a small pit-prop, no- 
 thing of much size or value was left stand- 
 ing. I have measured about 60 trees of 
 various sizes and situations, and have 
 found the best and largest of them, where 
 they appear to have had room and a con- 
 siderable quantity of branches, to measure, 
 at 3 feet from the ground, from 4 to 5 feet 
 
 * The larch is more liable to disease from blights at 
 various ages than any other of the forest trees with which 
 I am acquainted, and will hardly ever recover, (like the 
 oak and other of the hardy deciduous kinds) if severely 
 injured, without the aid of pruning by shortening the 
 branches ; which operation will not succeed but upon 
 young trees, consequently it appears that larches are not 
 well adapted for pe- manent woods. They soon get to a 
 great size, and are fit for numerous purposes, if they keep 
 in a growing vigorous state ; but as that is very uncertain, 
 it would appear most prudent to turn as many as possible 
 to advantage at the earliest period they would pay best, 
 and before they become in a stunted state, and injure, by 
 remaining too long in the ground, trees more hardy and 
 useful. 
 
238 
 
 in girt ; only 3 among them have exceeded 
 that size, one 5 feet 3 inches, another 5 
 feet 5 inches ; and the largest, which is 
 very remarkable as growing from an old 
 stump of a tree, is 5 feet 10 inches in girt. 
 But the greater part, where they stood 
 thick and have not made many branches, 
 are considerably under 4 feet, and a great 
 many only 18 inches and upwards to 3 and 
 4 feet in girt ; but I must observe, that 
 many of the thickest trees are as tall as 
 those of the smallest girt. 
 
 This must shew, in a strong light, the 
 utility of thinning woods in proper time, 
 and that on an average, if oaks have suffi- 
 cient "room, they will increase about an 
 inch or a little more in girt a year ; and, 
 by neglect or mismanagement, may be 
 retarded so as not to increase little more 
 than a quarter of an inch a year, as is 
 evident from the growth of these oaks. 
 
 It surely must be an error in practice 
 to cut down fine young thriving oak tim- 
 ber from 40 to 50 years growth, and in- 
 creasing in thickness at the rate of an 
 inch or more a year, to clear the ground 
 
239 
 
 to plant it over again with larches, parti- 
 cularly where oak timber of larger dimen- 
 sions is required, to take out the stunted 
 bad ones without branches, when there is 
 no probability of their making fresh ones, 
 or where they are standing too thick, in 
 all these cases it is very well ; but to cut 
 all down indiscriminately at that age and 
 size, when in as healthy and thriving a 
 state as timber can be, because it may be 
 supposed or said to be in a stunted state 
 or have done growing, must certainly be 
 a fundamental error. 
 
 In a plantation, belonging to the Gibside 
 estate on Tanfield Moor, I found an oak 
 that measured, at 3 feet from the ground, 
 1 4 1 inches, another 1 5, and one 1 7 inches 
 in girt, which have been planted 21 years 
 on as cold, black, moory soil as can well be 
 conceived, the land producing a long moss 
 and coarse heath. The oaks and sycamores 
 appear, now that they have taken to the 
 soil, to thrive better and look more healthy 
 and vigorous than the larch, which in such 
 cold wet situations appear soon to turn 
 mossy and stunted ; and in another plan- 
 
240 
 
 tation, on the edge of Tanfield Moor above 
 the Leases, belonging to the Marquis of 
 Bute, the land dry but fully exposed to 
 the westerly and north winds, I measured 
 an elm, at 3 feet from the ground, 2 feet 
 1 inch in girt, an oak 18^ inches, and an 
 ash 16 inches, which have been planted 
 20 years. These were all by chance, as 
 the plantation had not been properly 
 thinned. 
 
 Having had some conversation with a 
 farmer in the neighbourhood of Chopwell 
 about cutting ofT oaks at or near to 
 the ground in 2 or 3 years after planting, 
 if they appear in a stunted state, he told 
 me of some he had cut off belonging to 
 his landlord, William Surtees, esquire, in 
 a plantation belonging to that gentleman 
 at Buck's-nook in the county of Durham, 
 which were upon a bit of as bad wet land 
 as any in the plantation. He cut them 
 off, as he informed me, to observe the 
 effects, without taking any notice of it to 
 any one at the time. From the great 
 progress those oaks had made in compari- 
 son with the others, I was induced to go 
 
241 
 
 and see them ; when I measured three of 
 them, at S feet from the ground, one 
 was 21^ inches, another 19 J inches, ano- 
 ther 19i inches in girt, and which had 
 been planted only 20 years. On other 
 parts of the plantation, where the land 
 was much better but which had been 
 overrun with whins, &c. there was scarce 
 a plant upon it of any kind but what was 
 small, ill-formed, bad things. The oaks 
 were scarce so high as the whins, and the 
 larches were crooked and good for nothing; 
 in short, it wanted clearing and planting 
 over again, after the loss of 20 years. On 
 the contrary, where the oaks had been cut 
 off and no whins to impede their growth, 
 there was a great quantity of tall fine lar- 
 ches, many of which had been taken out at 
 different times, but still they had been left 
 too long before they had been taken out, 
 as most of the oaks were tall and slender ; 
 those I measured seemed to have had 
 more room from the greater number of 
 branches they had on them. In a plan- 
 tation adjoining, belonging to another 
 gentleman, and which had been planted 
 2 H 
 
242 
 
 7 years longer, we could find no oaks near 
 the size of these, as the larch and other 
 wood had not been thinned out in time. 
 
 These facts corroborate, to the fullest 
 extent, what I was premising from the 
 experiments I have made. The instances 
 quoted were by chance, as no particular 
 care was taken or means used to accelerate 
 their growth, except the mere cutting the 
 last-mentioned oaks off the second or third 
 year after they had been planted, and ne- 
 ver doing any thing to them afterwards, 
 except taking a few of the larches out 
 can be considered such. 
 
 In 20 years from the planting, with 
 early care and proper management, a gen- 
 tleman may look forward to have oak, ash, 
 and elm trees from 20 inches to 2 feet 
 and upwards in girt, after taking out a 
 crop of larches ; for here is an instance 
 of an oak, in 20 years, upwards of 21 
 inches in girt, and an elm of the same 
 standing 2 feet 1 inch in girt, without any 
 care or means used, and in unfavourable 
 situations as to soil, &c. Then, in more 
 favourable situations, with care and skill 
 
us 
 
 in the management, is it not probable 
 these sizes may be far exceeded in the 
 same time ? 
 
 In a plantation, belonging to the Gibside 
 estate, are some oaks and larches that have 
 been planted 19 years ; a striking example 
 of leaving the larch trees too long before 
 they are taken out, by which they are 
 drawn up tall and slender, and the oaks are 
 rendered small stunted, weak, dwindling 
 plants, not near so good as some on the 
 Crown wood-lands at Chopwell that have 
 been planted only 11 years. — And in a 
 plantation belonging to the Greenwich 
 Hospital estate, are some more oaks that 
 have been planted under a thick shade of 
 larches several years after the larch had 
 been planted, and have had their lower 
 branches cut off; but as the larches are 
 so thick and tall, and the branches meet 
 above the oaks, it is impossible the oaks 
 can make any progress till the larches are 
 mostly taken out, so as to admit li^kt, 
 that most essential requisite to the growth 
 of plants, besides the injury the oaks must 
 sustain from various causes in the cutting 
 
244 
 
 down and getting such tall trees from 
 among them. 
 
 I have mentioned these places, as being 
 in this neighbourhood, that any gentleman 
 might see the difference betwixt those 
 plants and some in his Majesty's planta- 
 tions at Chopwell that have had a different 
 mode of management ; because the fact of 
 actually seeing such things is more con- 
 vincing than mere theory, or the opini- 
 ons and assertions of people without 
 experience or judgment, however rich 
 or great they may be. 
 
 I hope, from what I have proved and 
 endeavoured to explain, that I may be the 
 humble means of inducing those gentle- 
 men, who have planting in view, to think 
 of the immense profits which may be de- 
 rived in their own life-time, in behalf of 
 their children and descendants, as well as 
 to the general good of their country, by 
 attending well to early care and skill in 
 the management of their plantations and 
 woods. 
 
 For the practice of cutting oaks off at 
 or near to the ground I am no advocate, 
 
245 
 
 having observed some in a clump near 
 the house at Gibside that had been plan- 
 ted and part of them cut off at the ground 
 (evidently an experiment) by the late Earl 
 of Strathmore, when I found that the 
 oaks which had not been so cut off were 
 by far the best and most likely to remain 
 so ; however, by cutting them off near 
 the ground in cold, wet, or poor dry land, 
 where there is no rank herbage, and when 
 the plant is clearly in a hide-bound stunt- 
 ed state, in which case it will undoubtedly 
 answer a very good purpose, as the plants 
 will gain several years growth by it, which 
 is certainly of great importance ; and as 
 oaks are often 6, 7, and sometimes more 
 years before they begin to grow to make 
 any progress, where the herbage or other 
 impediments are rank, I would prefer 
 cutting off at 2, 3, or more feet from the 
 ground, according to the age and size of 
 the plants, near to a good bud ; or, by 
 pruning the top well in if it is bushy, 
 and making a slit through the bark with 
 a knife the whole length of the stem up 
 one side, a young shoot will be produced 
 
246 
 
 from that height as well as from the bot- 
 tom, and stand a much better chance 
 than a young tender shoot to escape all 
 the injuries they are so subject to among 
 rank weeds. 
 
 I have seen the oak make great pro- 
 gress by cutting the tops well in after 
 being in a stunted state for some years, 
 when the tree is almost sure to throw out 
 strong and vigorous shoots. But still, even 
 after this operation, it will be necessary to 
 go over them to select one of the best 
 shoots for a leader, and to shorten the 
 strongest and longest of the others a lit- 
 tle by just pinching off the ends of them, 
 for they are very apt to throw several 
 strong shoots of nearly an equal size after 
 being cut off, which causes them to grow 
 bushy or shrub-like, and all the hopes 
 from this mode may be disappointed for 
 want of proper after-management. 
 
 Pruning, scarifying, or making a slit 
 with a knife through the bark of the stem 
 and along the main branches of stunted 
 trees, may probably have a similar effect 
 upon them as the letting of blood upon 
 
247 
 
 diseased animals ; indeed, I have experi- 
 enced instances of the wonderful effects 
 of this process upon various kinds of fruit- 
 trees, by cutting a slit up the stem and 
 along the principal branches, where the 
 bark appeared hard and hide-bound, caus- 
 ing them to make vigorous wood when 
 they had not made any for several years 
 before. It is a common practice upon 
 stunted and hide-bound cherry-trees, 
 and may be performed with the greatest 
 safety and beneficial results upon the 
 stocks and branches of apricot and peach 
 trees, whenever they appear in a sickly 
 state ; and there can be little doubt of its 
 efficacy upon some kinds of forest trees ; 
 but not having as yet tried any experi- 
 ments by slitting the bark upon stunted 
 oaks, I cannot speak with certainty on the 
 subject ; but with respect to pruning the 
 heads of stunted oaks well in, I have long 
 practised that with great success. 
 
 I have before supposed, from my own 
 observations and reflections, as well as 
 from the experiments and remarks of 
 others, that it was very probable, if not 
 
248 
 
 certain, some plants, if not all, might de- 
 rive a great part of their nutriment from 
 the atmosphere by their leaves, and that 
 the stem of the tree is increased by the 
 elongation of the caudexes of the leaf or 
 leaf-buds ; but finding some gentlemen 
 of a contrary opinion, and who think that 
 the stem is increased by the ascent of the 
 sap or nutriment that is derived by the 
 roots from the soil, I shall just mention 
 one fact, which clearly proves a tree to be 
 increased from the leaves and branches 
 downwards ; but before I state it I will 
 take the liberty of just making a few re- 
 marks that occur to me on the subject. 
 We see nothing on the roots of plants, 
 similar to the leaves upon trees, to draw 
 or absorb nutriment out of the ground ; 
 now I would ask, are the gases afloat deep 
 in the earth similar to what they are in 
 the atmosphere ? I should think not, nor 
 can it be fairly supposed or proved that 
 the gases or vapours in the atmosphere, 
 in dry hot seasons and climates, penetrate 
 through the dried and parched earth and 
 rocks to the extreme fibres of the roots of 
 
249 
 
 forest trees, to be sent up again to the 
 leaves. We often see the oak and other 
 trees growing with the greatest vigour, 
 when the ground they grow in is full of 
 the roots of all manner of under-growth, 
 and when their heads are above it and 
 full of leaves. What dew or moisture 
 can descend through all that thick and 
 apparently impervious shade and cover to 
 the roots of all these plants, to supply 
 them and the huge oak with sufficient 
 nutriment to support them all in vigour 
 through the hottest and driest Summers, 
 such as that of 1825 ? 
 
 It is generally supposed that the sap 
 descends from the branches to the roots 
 in the Winter months ; an opinion which 
 I believe to be erroneous. I would rather 
 think that it remains in the branches and 
 roots all the Winter as well as the Sum- 
 mer, and that from the want of leaves and 
 heat during the Winter it continues in an 
 inactive, dense, and dormant state ; for, 
 when we cut branches or young shoots 
 from trees in Winter, they are as full of 
 sap or moisture as in Summer, only not in 
 2 i 
 
250 
 
 so fluid a state ; but even that may vary r 
 according to the state of the atmosphere. — 
 If the sap were to retire from the branches 
 to the roots in Winter, the branches would 
 soon shrivel up and die from the action of 
 the frost and winds. When we take cut- 
 tings from trees in the Winter months, 
 and plant them in the earth to propagate, 
 how could they grow if there was no sap 
 in them ? And it is well known the bark 
 and young roots are emitted downwards, 
 which must be from the sap in the cutting. 
 Some kinds of plants will not strike roots 
 from cuttings if they lose their leaves ; 
 the Erica tribe is an instance of this, and 
 there are very probably many others. 
 
 In the first week of November, 1819, I 
 cut some grafts or scions of apples and 
 pears, packed them in moist moss, put 
 them on board a vessel, and did not re- 
 ceive them till the 16th of March follow- 
 ing, when I stuck them in the ground 
 with an intention to graft them that sea- 
 son ; but, for want of stocks and other 
 causes, I omitted grafting them, left 
 them in the earth, and supplied them oc- 
 
251 
 
 casionally with a little water through the 
 following Summer, to try if any of them 
 would strike root, not wishing to lose the 
 kinds ; but none of them made any. In 
 the beginning of April, 1821, some of 
 them were still alive, which I grafted 
 upon the branches of apple trees and 
 upon some pear stocks, and had the sa- 
 tisfaction of seeing several of them grow, 
 and which have since borne fruit. Here 
 then is an instance of cuttings having 
 been 17 months cut from the parent 
 trees, nearly 5 of those months out of 
 the earth, and yet they retained sufficient 
 sap to unite with the stocks ; but when 
 this and similar facts are seriously con- 
 sidered, it appears wonderful how we 
 should suppose the sap retired to the 
 roots in the Winter season. 
 
 But to return to the fact I have allu- 
 ded to, the increase of the stem or trunk 
 of a tree ; having last Spring, some time 
 after the tree was in full leaf, cut a ring 
 of bark about £ of an inch wide, from the 
 branch of a vigorous young pear tree to 
 cause it to make fruit buds, I have mea- 
 
252 
 
 sured it since the leaves have fallen, and 
 the upper part above where the bark was 
 taken off has increased full half an inch 
 more than the plant below ; it is only a 
 small branch of a young tree planted in 
 1820, which appears to me clearly to esta- 
 blish it as a fact, that the stems of trees 
 are increased in size from the leaves and 
 branches above, in some way or other. 
 But let any gentleman or experienced 
 gardener look at his peach and apricot 
 trees which are budded upon plum stocks, 
 how often will he see the part above the 
 union of the bud of the peach and apricot 
 as thick again as the stock ? arising, no 
 doubt, from an obstrviction at the place 
 of union of the peach and plum, and of 
 the elongation of the caudexes of the leaf 
 or leaf-buds (which are the rudiments of 
 the future young shoots) meeting with a 
 closer and firmer medium to pass through 
 in the stock below than its own open and 
 more porous nature, shewing the utility 
 of making a slit up the bark of a stock, and 
 which clearly demonstrates that the stems 
 
253 
 
 and branches of a tree are increased in 
 thickness by the leaf and leaf-buds. 
 
 It therefore appears certain that what- 
 ever can increase and keep them in a 
 healthy and vigorous state (which cannot 
 be without room and the free admission 
 of light and exposure to the sun's rays) 
 must be of the utmost importance to the 
 quick growth of forest trees; consequently 
 whatever tends to lessen, injure, or prevent 
 a plant from increasing in leaves and bran- 
 ches, with the benefit of light and the 
 sun's rays, must injure and finally kill it, 
 if deprived of it too long, which I think 
 must be self-evident to any one whose 
 mind is at all open to conviction ; and of 
 what I have been endeavouring through 
 this essay to prove, and of the vast impor- 
 tance of attending to these facts by all 
 who have plantations of forest trees, or 
 may have any in contemplation, as I have 
 fully shewn, that, with a little care, skill, 
 and expence bestowed upon them in their 
 infancy, they will soon be amply repaid. 
 
 If what I have stated should be the 
 means only in a small degree (which I 
 
254 
 
 flatter myself it may) of correcting any of 
 those errors or neglects in the manage- 
 ment of woods and plantations that are 
 prevalent in so many places, by introducing 
 a better system, or stimulating others to 
 improve it, I shall be much gratified, and 
 might be induced to make further experi- 
 ments, if I should have opportunity and 
 means, towards furthering so desirable an 
 object to landed proprietors and the coun- 
 try at large. 
 
255 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Experiments upon fruit trees — A cheap and 
 ready prepared plaster for the wounds of 
 trees — New sort of crooks or nails for 
 wall-trees. 
 
 Having arrived at Brocklesby, the seat of 
 the Right Honourable Lord Yarborough, 
 in the county of Lincoln, about the mid- 
 dle of June, 1800, I found the peach trees 
 in a most deplorable state, with scarce a 
 leaf upon them, but few branches, and 
 very little fruit ; the few leaves that re- 
 mained were all thick and curled, or dis- 
 eased with mildew and insects, and which 
 soon after mostly shrivelled up and fell 
 off, if not previously pinched off with the 
 finger and thumb, particularly the thick 
 crumpled leaves. 
 
 The trees were not very old, but had 
 extended and covered a very fine wall 
 without flues. The situation of the gar- 
 den was a very unfavourable one, being 
 both low and very wet, as the water used 
 
256 
 
 to stagnate and cover a great part of it 
 through the Winter previous to its being- 
 made into a garden ; but it had been 
 drained at an immense expence, and fresh 
 soil brought in to form the fruit-tree bor- 
 ders and other parts deficient ; but, after 
 all, the situation could not be improved 
 by the great expence, which would not 
 have been necessary in a more favourable 
 site, nor the ill consequences entirely pre- 
 vented to vegetables, and particularly fruit 
 trees, in a garden in so damp an atmos- 
 phere from the exhalations that arise in 
 such places, particularly in the Spring 
 months, when sunny days and frosty 
 nights are so prevalent. 
 
 The fruit-tree borders had been well 
 made, with good soil, and properly drain- 
 ed ; the trees had grown luxuriantly and 
 covered the walls, but still no fruit of any 
 consequence, nor that well flavoured, nei- 
 ther of the wall fruit nor other kinds. 
 
 These wall trees (peaches, nectarines, 
 and apricots,) would make efforts in the 
 Spring of each year to produce wood and 
 leaves ; but when the cold weather pre- 
 
257 
 
 vailed in May and June, with easterly 
 winds and frosts, the leaves became dis- 
 eased, curled up, and were to be pulled 
 off, or would fall off in June or July. 
 At this time the trees became in an inac- 
 tive state, when they should be making 
 and perfecting the wood for the next 
 year's crop ; but towards the Autumn, 
 when the earth was become dry and 
 warm to a great depth, they would make 
 fresh efforts, and throw out plenty of 
 strong luxuriant shoots ; but the early 
 Autumnal frosts would set in before such 
 late-made wood could be half matured, so 
 that through the Autumn and Winter the 
 greatest part of these strong shoots were 
 killed, and the others had not time to 
 make strong flower-buds to produce fruit; 
 so that season after season returned, and 
 nothing but disappointment to the pro- 
 prietor, after all the immense expence in 
 the garden establishment, with bare walls, 
 and naked unsightly trees without fruit ; 
 but this is often the case, when gentle- 
 men give up their judgment and plain 
 common sense to tlie opinion or will of 
 2 K 
 
258 
 
 some man who has got a great name in 
 his profession, and is supposed to know 
 best, therefore it must be as he dictates, 
 without any further consideration of the 
 matter ; but such persons generally find 
 their greatest interest in the most money 
 that is expended in these concerns, or the 
 length of time the works are in execu- 
 ting, because in this case a worse natural 
 situation near to the place could not have 
 been chosen for a garden. It is easy to 
 say, If it is not a good one we will make 
 it so, (at a great unnecessary expence) 
 but we cannot alter Nature, however we 
 may assist her. 
 
 Instead of recommending to cut up 
 and root out these sickly and half dead 
 trees, and to plant young ones in their 
 places, (that I might have the pleasure of 
 having trees of my own planting and 
 training, under my own discipline or ma- 
 nagement, and I was very young at that 
 time) as I knew it would be a long time 
 before there could be any fruit from 
 young trees, I was induced to reflect and 
 consider what I could do to bring the 
 
2.00 
 
 present trees to bear a little fruit, till 
 young trees could be brought into a bear- 
 ing state between the old ones, as nearly 
 all the old trees were destitute of young 
 wood half the height of the wall. 
 
 In the Autumn of the year 1800 I 
 commenced servitude with his Lordship as 
 gardener. I began with what I shall term 
 raisi?io- the roots of some of the peach and 
 apricot trees, (for the apricots were in as 
 unfruitful a state as the peaches from the 
 same cause, a late over-luxuriant growth, 
 &c.) The method I devised and adopted 
 I shall describe and explain as clearly as 
 I can, with the beneficial results that ac- 
 crued from it. 
 
 I began by digging a trench at from 4 
 to 5 feet from the stem of the tree, and 
 about 2 feet wide, to one half of the tree 
 first, digging down till I found the roots, 
 which were at the bottom of the good soil, 
 and near 3 feet below the surface, which 
 had been occasioned probably by planting 
 the trees too deep at first, and always 
 digging and trenching the borders deep, 
 which forced all the roots so much below 
 
260 
 
 the surface ; but I must remark, I found 
 all the roots in a very healthy and vigorous 
 state, which shews that the annual disease 
 in the branches and leaves had not affect- 
 ed the roots, nor had the disease in the 
 branches been derived from diseased or 
 cankered roots, even in that damp situa- 
 tion. After all the earth was dug out of 
 this trench for half of the tree till we got 
 below the roots, we carefully forked the 
 soil from among them with a three- prong- 
 ed fork into the trench, and threw it out 
 till we had got one half of the roots bare 
 to about 18 or 20 inches from the stem, 
 when we lifted them all up and bent them 
 back, if not too strong, or held them up 
 while we filled the hole with the soil that 
 had been thrown out in clearing the roots 
 to within 9 inches or a foot of the surface, 
 treading it down well that it might not 
 afterwards subside, and let in the roots 
 deeper than I intended. I then carefully 
 replaced and spread the roots upon the 
 soil, covering them with the remainder, 
 without adding either fresh soil or manure 
 of any kind ; when finished, the roots lay 
 
261 
 
 within 9 inches or a foot of the surface, 
 instead of being, as they were before, 3 
 feet below it. 
 
 But as the trees had been planted very 
 deep at first, or fresh soil with manure 
 added, in the course of years the soil in 
 the borders had been raised, and after I 
 had performed this operation the roots 
 were deeper in the ground by several in- 
 ches near the stem than at the extremi- 
 ties. My reason for doing them this way 
 was to prevent too great a check by an 
 entire removal of such large trees, as I 
 left what may be termed a good ball at 
 each tree, at the bottom of the stem, un- 
 disturbed ; but I took care to hollow it 
 well under, so as to get at and raise up 
 every root that went perpendicular from 
 the stem into the earth, and laid them in 
 an horizontal position with the others, or 
 if too strong to bend upwards, as some of 
 them were, I cut it entirely off; but pre- 
 ferring raising them up and laying them 
 in an horizontal position, with their ex- 
 tremities rather the highest than other- 
 wise to prevent them making fresh roots 
 
262 
 
 downwards, wishing to encourage the roots 
 as near the surface as I could, conceiving 
 it more beneficial to the trees and fruit ; 
 I never suffered the borders to be dug 
 afterwards more than half a spit or 9 in- 
 ches deep, my main design being to have 
 fruit as soon as possible, and of a good 
 quality. When I had done one half of 
 the roots, I proceeded and did the other 
 half in a similar manner; this prevented 
 the tree from being entirely unnailed, 
 and from settling deeper than it was be- 
 fore, while the one side was doing the 
 other kept it in its proper position ; this 
 operation was performed upon all the 
 peach and apricot trees, but not in one 
 season, as it was only an experiment I 
 was trying ; some of the trees were very 
 large, particularly the apricots; of those 
 done in this manner the first season, the 
 next year I had the secret pleasure of 
 seeing them making the most promising 
 and healthy shoots, from about 9 to 12 
 or 15 inches long, without any of those 
 thick curly crumpled and mildewed leaves 
 with insects, &c. The first shoots and 
 
26S 
 
 leaves that were made in the Spring were 
 not injured, but continued healthy and 
 vigorous all through the Spring and Sum- 
 mer, perfected their wood early in the 
 Autumn, and were full of fine blossom- 
 buds for the ensuing season, and what 
 fruit appeared this year was earlier by 
 three weeks than usual, had an excellent 
 flavour, and equal to that on a hot wall. 
 The following year, from the luxuriant 
 bearing wood made this year, I had plenty 
 of fine fruit, early and well flavoured ; 
 and as I did not think quite so much of 
 fine formed trained trees, pruned and 
 nailed according to the rules of the art, 
 as of seeing a wall well covered with 
 branches, leaves, and fruit in the season, 
 when the owner expects to find something 
 more substantial, I trained the shoots 
 the trees had made in any direction I 
 could lay them, so as to cover the bare 
 wall ; for when the trees are in full leaf 
 and plenty of good flavoured fruit, the 
 proprietor seldom looks or inquires how 
 the tree is trained. After the first year 
 I had profusion of peaches, nectarines, and 
 
264 
 
 apricots, large and well flavoured, more 
 than could be well consumed ; which was 
 often acknowledged by his Lordship, and 
 some of the old servants that had been in 
 the family ever since the garden was first 
 made, who all allowed they never had 
 such plenty of fine fruit before, even 
 when the trees were in their full prime. 
 
 I tried the same experiments upon 
 various other trees of different kinds, and 
 planted a variety of young fruit trees on 
 variously prepared bottoms to prevent the 
 roots going too deep, with a view of get- 
 ting better fruit in such an unfavourable 
 situation, where nearly all the first planted 
 fruit trees had failed, had become cankered 
 and were cut down, or had never produced 
 any fruit good for any thing, or ever fit to 
 send to table. 
 
 I had intended, after the roots had 
 extended over the prepared bottoms, if 
 the roots got too deep into the damp 
 wet bottom, and should grow too luxuri- 
 ant, and not produce and ripen the fruit 
 in perfection, to have shortened or raised 
 the roots to the outsides of these prepared 
 
265 
 
 bottoms, which were generally 4 or 5 feet 
 in diameter when in the borders, and the 
 same size for the half of a circle when 
 against the walls. I had them formed of 
 such materials and thicknesses that I 
 conceived the roots could not penetrate 
 through them into the crude damp earth 
 underneath, and placed the roots in such 
 position, by leaving them as long and 
 laying them as horizontal as possible at 
 the time I planted them, and by taking 
 special care not to dig deep around the 
 tree, as far as the prepared bottoms ex- 
 tended each way from the stem. The 
 bottoms were generally made with broken 
 tiles, bricks, stones, or with the slags out 
 of the stove furnaces or fire places, all 
 broken small, rammed down quite hard, 
 and covered with some lime cramps, with 
 about a foot in thickness of good soil over 
 them, elevated a little in the centre. 
 
 But just as I had completed my works, 
 and laid the foundation for my future 
 improvements and further experiments, 
 one of those whims, occurrences, or per- 
 haps all-directing circumstances that hap- 
 2 L 
 
266 
 
 pen in a person's life- time, but which it is 
 not material to state, induced me to quit 
 that situation, and leave ail the honour 
 of my 6 years' labour, improvements, and 
 experiments, to be reaped by another. 
 
 The latter experiments I had tried, 
 and laid the foundation to try further 
 upon, had not had time to develope them- 
 selves, (except upon a few young pear 
 trees against the walls, which were answer- 
 ing the expectations I had previously 
 formed,) at the time I left his Lordship's 
 service, so as to enable me to state any 
 satisfactory results from them ; and I 
 should feel ashamed to state any thing 
 as a fact, that I was not convinced of in 
 my own mind ; although, had I con- 
 tinued the management of those trees 
 for a longer period, I might have been 
 able to have given much more interesting 
 information on the nature of fruit trees 
 in such unfavourable soils and situations ; 
 but having never seen the place since I 
 left, which is nearly 20 years, nor heard 
 or wrote to make any inquiries concern- 
 ing the fruit trees, I cannot at present 
 
267 
 
 say more about them ; but if ever fate, 
 chance, or any cause should enable me 
 to visit that place again, to see and 
 learn the effects of what I had laid the 
 foundation, if I should think them 
 of sufficient importance with the other 
 experiments I am now trying or may 
 hereafter try either upon fruit or forest 
 trees, I should be happy to communicate 
 that information for the good of the pub- 
 lic ; but in case it should never be my lot 
 to publish any thing more, I shall insert 
 one other piece of information which has 
 come to my knowledge. 
 
 A great deal has been said and written 
 upon plasters and compositions for the 
 wounds of fruit and forest trees, which I 
 have tried, and been at some trouble in 
 collecting and preparing the stuff for 
 them, but never found much good from 
 the various nostrums. The cheapest 
 and easiest to be procured and applied, 
 perhaps the most durable and efficacious 
 that I know of, is fresh cow dung alone in 
 a thin state, taken when the cows are at 
 grass, or when fed upon other green or 
 
368 
 
 moist food. This can be procured any 
 where, and laid on with a thin piece of 
 wood, chip, or any other thing, and as thin 
 or thick as might be judged necessary ; 
 by laying it on at two or three different 
 times, it is astonishing how fast the young 
 bark will grow underneath, and effectually 
 exclude the air and moisture. I have 
 known it continue more than a year, the 
 time since I first tried it, and it appears 
 as firm and close as at first, and will do so 
 till the young bark forces it off. This 
 could be easily renewed upon the part 
 that is still to heal over, if the wound is 
 large and it should be thought necessary. 
 Whoever may try it will soon be convinced 
 of its utility and efficacy ; it is nothing the 
 worse for being simple, cheap, always at 
 hand, and readily prepared where cows or 
 young cattle are kept. I believe it might 
 answer for grafting instead of clay ; or 
 when buds are inserted in stocks, in dry 
 hot weather, a little put about the bud, 
 where the bandage cannot cover, might 
 prevent the air getting in and killing the 
 bud before it has united with the stock. 
 
269 
 
 Any one who pleases can try the experi- 
 ment ; or it might be applied with the best 
 effects when the outer bark is taken off 
 hide-bound trees, according to a recent 
 method, or when a slit is made up the 
 stems of any kinds of trees to relieve 
 them, or to any other wounds upon trees 
 where the bark has been displaced by ac- 
 cident or design, or decayed by canker or 
 any other cause. It appears to me the 
 best thing that can be applied to make 
 the young bark grow, and to hide the 
 wounds and unsightliness of them at first, 
 by keeping them from being so power- 
 fully acted upon by the sun and drying 
 winds It only wants trying to convince 
 any one of its utility ; and if a cheap 
 and convenient think is desirable, here 
 is one always at hand. 
 
 Knowing w T ell the value of time and 
 expedition in business to an industrious 
 and anxious gardener, who has so many 
 important matters to attend to at the 
 same and at all times, and which will not 
 admit of delay without discredit and vex- 
 ation to himself, with loss and disappoint- 
 
270 
 
 merit to his employers ; knowing also the 
 importance of wall trees being kept in 
 good order at all times, and the length of 
 time it takes to prepare shreds to nail 
 and unnail trees ; I have been induced, 
 from the suggestions of a very eminent 
 man, (not a gardener) but the worthy 
 and celebrated Mr Bewick the engraver 
 of Newcastle, to consider if any method 
 could be discovered to expedite and make 
 cheaper, easier, and more durable and 
 effectual, the operation and method of 
 fastening the branches of trees to garden 
 or other walls, for the saving of time and 
 labour is a saving of expence. On this 
 subject I am sorry to differ in opinion 
 from Mr Bewick, but from the nobleness 
 and candour of his sentiments I know he 
 will readily excuse me, because real utility 
 and benevolence to his fellow creatures 
 form a conspicuous feature in his charac- 
 ter. I shall just state Mr Bewick's opini- 
 on, which gave rise to what I have to sug- 
 gest upon this head, viz. to have crooks of 
 cast iron driven into the wall at certain 
 distances, or, if the walls are to build, to 
 
271 
 
 be fixed in at the time of building, and 
 the branches to be fastened to them with 
 tarred twine, or rope of a proper thickness, 
 something like net work, from crook to 
 crook, or one branch fastened to another 
 where the crooks are not thick enough. 
 I state this for the consideration of others, 
 who perhaps may see it in a different light 
 from what I do ; for, as Mr Bewick most 
 justly observes, '* If we cannot accomplish 
 or bring to perfection what we wish or 
 think it possible to be improved or 
 brought to greater perfection ; yet if we 
 can but stimulate others to think, and try 
 experiments upon those subjects, a mate- 
 rial object in point of great good is ob- 
 tained and accomplished." 
 
 My principal objections to the tarred 
 rope are, its relaxing and contracting, 
 according to the state of the atmosphere ; 
 the difficulty of tying or piecing the rope- 
 yarn when it breaks, or becomes necessary 
 to cut or unfasten it when a branch is to 
 be cut off and taken away to be placed 
 in a different position, or a tree is to be 
 removed, with several others needless to 
 
272 
 
 mention, all of which must be apparent 
 to a practical gardener. 
 
 After a good deal of consideration and 
 trials, I have hit upon a method, which 
 in my opinion, aided by some experience, 
 will, I think, save the preparation, trou- 
 ble, and expence of shreds, and answer 
 every other purpose as well or better, 
 and which I shall with diffidence take the 
 liberty to suggest to the consideration or 
 trial of any one, who may be disposed to 
 make the trial or pursue the inquiry fur- 
 ther. It is, to make nails with crooks 
 to them, if I may be allowed to call them 
 nails, as the appellation or term nailing 
 trees would be difficult to change ; the 
 part that is to be in the mortar should be 
 square, the same as a common wall nail, the 
 other part made round and turned with a 
 crook, but so made as to drive in the wall, 
 or pull out w r ith a hammer when necessary, 
 the same as a common nail ; by making 
 the part square that goes in the mortar, 
 it can be drove in any direction for 
 the crook to suit the position of the 
 young shoot or branch to be fastened to 
 
273 
 
 the wall, and by the other part being 
 made round there will be no danger of 
 the shoot being injured by the crook ; 
 they might be made of various sizes to 
 suit different walls, or sizes of shoots or 
 branches, from that of a small common 
 wall nail for fine brick walls, and small 
 shoots to any size for larger branches 
 and old brick or stone walls. Between 
 the end of the crook and the wall, when 
 it is drove in, there should be a space left 
 if possible, when the branches or shoots 
 could be put in or taken out generally, 
 without drawing the nail or crook, which 
 operation of frequently drawing the nails 
 out of the wall injures and defaces the 
 wall more than any thing else. This is 
 deserving of serious consideration and 
 reflection, to the proprietor and gardener, 
 in many points of view, both as to the 
 expence of frequently pointing old walls, 
 and the trouble and difficulty of fastening 
 the nails in such decayed mortar. I find, 
 by using these crooks, I can fasten 3 or 4 
 shoots to the wall in the time I can fasten 
 2 M 
 
274 
 
 one with a nail and shred ; which is cer- 
 tainly of great consequence, where there 
 is much nailing and but little assistance. 
 
 Trees look very unsightly when shreds 
 are not neatly cut, both as to length and 
 breadth, and properly placed on the shoots, 
 and frequently the blossoms and fruit are 
 spoiled under them if not timely remov- 
 ed, (which is additional trouble) and it is 
 thought by some that the shreds encou- 
 rage and harbour insects, earwigs, spiders, 
 woodlice, and some others. They no doubt 
 do, but the crooks would not do that, nor 
 spoil the blossoms or fruit, as the crooked 
 part need be no thicker than a common 
 wall nail ; besides, I think trees would look 
 much neater without shreds. 
 
 The only objection I see against them 
 at present is, if they are made of wrought 
 iron by nailors, I fear they would be too 
 expensive to come into general use ; but I 
 have been informed that cast iron will not 
 rust so soon as wrought or common iron, 
 and that it can be tempered so as to be 
 nearly as tough as common iron. If that 
 
275 
 
 is the fact, then they would come cheap, 
 and I think would he a desirable acquisi- 
 tion to gentlemen, gardeners, and others 
 who have walls and nail their own trees, 
 both as to neatness, and a saving of money 
 as well as of time. 
 
277 
 
 *tm\^ 
 
 Having never entertained any idea of 
 publishing an account of my experiments 
 or remarks on the foregoing subjects, or 
 any other, till late in the Autumn of 1824, 
 I might perhaps, with more time and op- 
 portunities, have made those remarks of 
 more importance or presented them in a 
 better style ; I might have been more 
 accurate in some matters that I have 
 related, and have produced others which 
 are entirely omitted. 
 
 I was anxious, for particular reasons, 
 to have the work completed by the end 
 of the year, and to have put it to press 
 early in 1 825 ; but from various causes 
 (which perhaps it is not necessary to 
 state) delays and disappointments Oc- 
 curred, which caused it to be deferred 
 till the Summer of that year before it 
 was attempted. 
 
278 
 
 In the mean time, various new facts 
 have arisen and come under my observa- 
 tion, and more experiments have since 
 been tried, which have had the effect of 
 throwing some new light upon several 
 subjects which I could not embody in 
 the work, because some of them were not 
 known to me at the time, and did not 
 immediately occur to my mind, or were 
 omitted altogether from the hasty manner 
 in which I was at last compelled to finish 
 the work. Some of the fresh matter I 
 have embodied as notes in the margin, 
 but the principal additional matter I must 
 present to my readers by way of Appendix; 
 and when it is considered under what cir- 
 cumstances the facts were collected and 
 composed, with my inexperience in com- 
 piling or writing a book, may apologise 
 for any unconnected parts of the work 
 that may be discovered by the discerning 
 public. 
 
 Having before treated of the different 
 causes that injure and destroy plants when 
 young and small, what I have since dis- 
 covered or have omitted to state of the 
 
279 
 
 destructive nature of the field-mouse, I 
 trust will not be uninteresting or useless. 
 From what I have before said concerning 
 this little animal, and have further now 
 to state, I must for once turn advocate 
 for the poor hares and rabbits, as these 
 facts must in some measure free them 
 from part of the blame that is so often 
 attached to them, for it is a hard case, 
 even when innocent, to be only sus- 
 pected of crime. From my experience I 
 have found the mouse a much more de- 
 structive animal than either of these. I 
 discovered, in the Spring of 1825, that the 
 mice had become again extremely nu- 
 merous, and their ravages not only great 
 to the oaks, &c. but, what is very extraor- 
 dinary, extended to the resinous trees, 
 particularly to the larch, in all places 
 where there is plenty of shelter for them, 
 either of whin, broom, grass, or any thing 
 of the like nature. Their depredations 
 have been very extensive to the larches, 
 but more particularly among the whins, 
 as they afford both food and more security 
 to the mice when at their mischievous 
 
280 
 
 work, where great numbers of larch 
 plants, from 2 to 3 feet high, have had 
 all their side-branches and a great many 
 of them the leading shoot entirely bitten 
 off by them, leaving nothing but the 
 lower part of the naked stem. It is really 
 surprising how they bite off and appear 
 to feed upon the small young shoots, and 
 astonishing to observe how they have got 
 so high as 3 feet or more up the stems, 
 and to near the extremities of the side- 
 shoots of the larches that are among the 
 tall whins, to bite them off and carry 
 them into heaps under the trees and 
 whins, where they appear to have been 
 bitten again into shorter lengths. To the 
 naturalist this might be very interesting 
 and amusing, and afford him further 
 means to ascertain and describe their 
 nature and properties. 
 
 There have not been many spruce firs 
 planted in these grounds, but I have 
 found one small spruce fir growing among 
 this thick pernicious stuff, that injures 
 and destroys plants in such various ways, 
 for want of clearing away in proper time, 
 
281 
 
 completely barked all round, 6 inches 
 from the ground, and the side-branches 
 and leader bitten off, with some others 
 of this kind injured similar to the larches. 
 I must remark that I have found only a few 
 larches completely barked all round like 
 the spruce, but great numbers partly 
 barked and much nibbled into the very 
 wood. The shoots were generally bit- 
 ten clean off, laid in heaps, and re-bitten 
 into shorter lengths ; whether any or how 
 much of the wood was eaten I cannot tell, 
 having never seen them in the very act ; 
 but such a fact probably might be ascer- 
 tained, by having some or perhaps only 
 one of these creatures in a box or cage, 
 (for they devour each other when confined, 
 even the very young ones are guilty of it 
 when put up together, as I found from 
 experience, by having some very young 
 ones taken out of their nests and secured 
 some time as food for a hawk.) But there 
 can scarce be any doubt of their feeding 
 upon the young wood, only it appears 
 curious to find so many of the short 
 lengths left; perhaps, as they cannot eat 
 2 M 
 
it all at once, they may be dainty where 
 there is such plenty and variety, and may 
 like to have it fresh. 
 
 They are not only destructive to young 
 trees, but extremely so to wheat and grass, 
 and probably to all corn ; but I will only 
 state what I know to be facts. I have found 
 very great damage done to the wheat ad- 
 joining the plantations long before the 
 grain was ripe, and continued to the very 
 time of reaping, having found immense 
 quantities of the wheat stalks, handfuls in 
 a place, particularly where the grain was 
 strong, some nearly rotten and some quite 
 fresh at the reaping season, which proves 
 they must feed upon the stalks long be- 
 fore the grain is ripe, even before it is in 
 flower ; I have observed the same in the 
 stalks of the cocksfoot grass, (of which 
 they seem particularly fond) as soon as 
 the flower stem is advanced to some 
 length, as there is more saccharine and 
 nutritive matter contained in the stalks 
 than the leaves. 
 
 A person, who has been in the habit of 
 gathering the seed of the cocksfoot grass 
 for some years, was surprised to find but 
 
QZ3 
 
 very little this year where there used lo 
 be plenty, not even worth his trouble to 
 collect, and as the mice are so very nume- 
 rous, from what I have observed of the 
 wheat, and the stalks of cocksfoot grass, 
 as well as several others, I have not the 
 least doubt but the mice have destroyed 
 it, by feeding upon the flowering stems, 
 as I have frequently found handfuls of 
 the remains of the stalks at and near the 
 roots or tussocks of that kind of grass long 
 before it was in flower or the seeds ripe. 
 
 These observations may escape the no- 
 tice of the farmer, or the persons employ- 
 ed in cutting down his wheat ; but let any 
 one examine carefully his corn fields ad- 
 joining to plantations, or where and when 
 mice abound, he will find it too true, to 
 his great loss. They seem also to feed 
 largely upon the seed heads and leaves of 
 the narrow-leaved plantain, having found 
 handfuls of the stalks bitten off into short 
 lengths, and laid into heaps under the 
 larches, and the seed heads eaten; even the 
 Cenlaurea Nigra, or knapweed, the strong 
 stalks of this they bite off, and feed upon 
 the seed heads ; indeed there seems but 
 
284 
 
 few of the grasses or field herbs but what 
 they feed upon. Their burrows or runs 
 into and under the dead and lodged grass, 
 whins, broom, and into the earth, and so 
 frequently seeing them run in and out, 
 have, comparatively speaking, very much 
 the appearance of a rabbit warren. 
 
 I omitted to state, when speaking of 
 the mice caught in the holes dug in the 
 ground, that they were generally found 
 dead, as it appeared they very soon died, 
 either through fear or by beating about 
 to get out again, or perhaps from both 
 these causes combined, and that several 
 were caught in the holes when partly 
 filled with water, but not brimful, as in 
 that case they could have got out again. 
 
 It would also appear that they congre- 
 gate together at times, as I have often 
 found great quantities of their dung, 
 sometimes in round and oblong heaps, 
 and on bare places under the young larch 
 trees and whin bushes. But I will now 
 leave this subject, to be further consider- 
 ed or investigated by the curious inquirer 
 and ingenious naturalist. 
 

 SECTION II. 
 
 On cutting off large, broken, or decayed 
 branches — Remarks and experiments on 
 applying fresh com dung to tlie recent 
 wounds of forest and fruit trees. 
 
 When I first began to write upon this 
 subject of plantations, I did not intend to 
 have said any thing upon the treatment 
 of trees in an advanced stage of growth : 
 but, since I finished the former part, 
 
 1 have thought it right, for some reasons, 
 to say a few words upon taking off the 
 decayed, broken, and injured branches 
 close, or not close to the stem, bole, or 
 trunk of large trees when in a growing 
 state; it is thought best, and practised by 
 some, to cut an injured branch off at a 
 considerable distance from the stem, from 
 
 2 or 3 inches to various lengths, or not to 
 take a dead or dying branch off at all. 
 
 When a branch is broken or injured at 
 some distance from the stem of the tree, 
 and a living smaller lateral branch is left 
 
286 
 
 thereon to keep it alive, and if it is not 
 entirely excluded from the light by a 
 great number of branches above, which 
 would kill it, the practice may be very 
 proper, viz. if the branch keeps alive ; but 
 when it is injured, split, or riven very near, 
 or into the stem, as it very frequently is 
 in cases of heavy snows and strong high 
 winds, or when there is no living lateral 
 branches left on the part adjoining to the 
 stem which is designed to be left as a 
 stump, then the practice is exceedingly 
 erroneous, particularly if the tree is de- 
 signed to stand a great number of years 
 afterwards, before it is to be cut down ; 
 as I hope to convince any gentleman or 
 practical man, who will take the trouble 
 to reflect and examine into such things 
 themselves, because I have heard it assert- 
 ed and blamed as an ignorant and errone- 
 ous method to cut such branches off close 
 to the stem, as it causes the trees (oaks are 
 meant) to bleed, lets in the wet, and injures 
 the timber, and that those trees which 
 have had branches cut off in that manner, 
 ought, and have been recommended to be 
 
287 
 
 cut down, because, as they assert, they are 
 spoiled, although the most vigorous and 
 best trees in the woods. What destruction 
 and havoc would this occasion in young 
 thriving plantations and ornamental trees, 
 after severe heavy snows and high winds, 
 if such notions as these were to prevail, 
 and to be acted upon ! Because the finest 
 trees, with the largest and best branches, 
 are more frequently injured from such 
 disastrous causes than a tree that happens 
 to have one or more branches injured 
 close to the stem, (if they should be cut 
 off) must be cut down, or, what would be 
 worse, suffered to grow to encumber the 
 ground, perhaps injure others for a great 
 number of years, and be a useless rotten 
 tree at the last, if the absurd notions of 
 such knowing ones were to be acted upon. 
 But that it is contrary to the truth and 
 facts, I hope to be able to prove, if the 
 work is judiciously and timely performed, 
 for that is of material importance. 
 
 Any one who will but observe and 
 examine closely, will find, when a branch 
 decays of itself, if of a considerable sub- 
 
288 
 
 stance, or from the injury it may receive 
 from snows, winds, or other causes, that, 
 before the branches are entirely decayed, 
 the stem of a growing tree is increased 
 several inches, which leaves a hole or 
 wound of several inches deep, of quite 
 rotten wood, in the heart of the tree. I 
 have seen holes from 3 or 4 inches to a 
 foot deep, in healthy young oak trees, 
 from the decay of branches not near so 
 thick as a person's wrist ; which is evident 
 must leave a space of rotten and decayed 
 timber in the inside of a tree, if the wound 
 should finally close over, which in some 
 cases where the hole is not large it will, 
 which will cause a hidden defect in the 
 timber, and may produce very unpleasant 
 feelings and consequences both to seller 
 and purchaser when discovered. I have 
 frequently observed the bark and young 
 wood swell 6 or 7 inches over, or up the 
 decayed or decaying branches of trees, 
 making strong natural efforts to heal over, 
 which it cannot do while the decaying 
 branches are left on ; people need only to 
 look a little at trees, or into woods of a 
 
289 
 
 considerable age to see plenty of such 
 instances, and in all such cases that part 
 of the timber must be materially injured, 
 as any person who has the working and 
 cutting up the wood can testify ; whereas 
 when such branches are first observed to 
 be decaying or dead, and those that have 
 been injured from other causes were sawn 
 off as close to the stem as possible, and 
 smoothed over with a chissel to take off 
 the roughness the saw occasioned, in a 
 very few years the wound would be com- 
 pletely healed over, without leaving any of 
 those rotten places in the heart of a tree 
 occasioned by the branches being left to 
 decay of themselves, and preventing the 
 young wood and bark growing over those 
 parts. 
 
 In a growing tree a wound may be 
 supposed to heal over an inch a year in 
 girt, then a wound of so many inches in 
 diameter will heal over in as many years, 
 and as the bark and young wood protrude 
 over the white sappy part of the wound, 
 first from both sides and downwards, con- 
 sequently such part as would naturally 
 2 o 
 
290 
 
 decay the soonest is secured the first. 
 From this fact we may see how provident 
 Nature is to preserve evert/ part from injury, 
 and kindly hints her want of assistance from 
 the helping hand of man. 
 
 The heart or hard-wood, which is long- 
 est before it begins to decay, is the last 
 part that is healed over. When branches 
 are to be taken off oaks, they should be 
 cut very close, particularly on the lower 
 or under side, as the bark grows but 
 slowly upwards, and very often it decays 
 some inches below the lower part of the 
 wound ; and if much protuberance is 
 left there, or on the upper part or sides, 
 it cannot heal over so quickly as when it is 
 cut tolerably close ; but that must depend 
 in some measure on the size of the limbs 
 or branches dismembered, because on very 
 large limbs there is often a protuberance 
 or swelling near the trunk, in which case 
 it would not be proper to cut too close, 
 as it would make a larger wound, which 
 would consequently be the longer in heal- 
 ing over, such branches should be cut off 
 where the swelling begins to diminish : 
 
291 
 
 but in all smaller branches without that 
 swelling, the nearer they are cut to the 
 stem the better ; any one who will notice 
 it carefully will find that branches so cut 
 off will not retain the moisture or water. 
 and may remain a number of years before 
 they begin to decay, of course the new 
 wood unites to the old, and when the tree 
 is cut up will only leave the wood a little 
 discoloured in such parts ; as for the bleed- 
 ing, there is no such thing in wounds of 
 this kind, that only occurs when trees are 
 injured or split from winds, frost, light- 
 ning, or other natural or unknown causes, 
 when the sap will ooze out from such in- 
 jured trees, as is frequently to be seen. 
 
 Having tried some further experiments 
 during the Summer of 1825, to ascertain 
 how much a wound will heal over in a 
 season, and whether the using of a plaster 
 of simple cow dung would accelerate that 
 process, or in what other manner be bene- 
 ficial to the wounds on trees, I shall state 
 the results so far as the time has allowed 
 me, with some further remarks and obser- 
 vations, which I humbly hope may be 
 of some service. 
 
On the 22d of May, in hot dry weather, 
 I sawed a few branches off some thriving 
 young oaks, and put some fresh cow dung 
 over the wounds of some, and left the 
 others exposed as is common, but smooth- 
 ed the rough edges off left by the saw all 
 alike. — July 11th, in 7 weeks, examined 
 the wounds, when I was agreeably asto- 
 nished at finding the bark had protruded 
 above an eighth of an inch from each side, 
 and the top over the wound and a little 
 upwards from the lower part, while those 
 wounds not covered with the dung had 
 made no progress of any consequence, as I 
 could only discern a little effort on one of 
 the uncovered wounds from the side; and 
 in September, the bark had protruded 
 considerably more than a quarter of an 
 inch from each side and downwards, and 
 growing a little upwards from the bottom, 
 without the bark on that part decaying ; 
 while those without the plaster have made 
 but little progress, and some of them none 
 at all that is visible. I tried it upon seve- 
 ral branches with similar results, and also 
 upon fruit trees, but earlier in the season, 
 
39S 
 
 and was extremely gratified to observe its 
 efficacious and healing tendency. 1 have 
 also tried it upon some wounds of 2 years 
 standing, to observe its effects ; some of 
 the wounds have healed over full an inch 
 at this time, and this has been a year in 
 which trees in general have not grown so 
 much as in some others, although I have 
 measured and found some of the young 
 oaks have increased an inch, and from that 
 to an inch and three-eighths ; young elms, 
 ash, and healthy trees in proportion ; some 
 of the larches, that had been blighted, 
 have made but little and some no pro- 
 gress, while others in a healthy state have 
 increased 2 and 8$ inches in girt. 
 
 From the experiments concerning the 
 use of cow dung in accelerating the heal- 
 ing of wounds on trees, it appears to have 
 the greatest efficacy the first season, and 
 should be applied at the time or as soon 
 after the wounds are made as possible, 
 and might be renewed when the young 
 bark has forced it otf, till the wound is 
 completely healed over ; which in some 
 kinds of trees might be more necessary 
 
294 
 
 than others, particularly the soft-wooded 
 kinds, and perhaps on none more than 
 the walnut. When it is necessary to prune 
 or cut branches from those trees, as there 
 is a very large pith in the young branches, 
 and the young sap-wood being very soft 
 and porous, and as the pith decays it leaves 
 a great hole which admits the wet, and 
 may be the cause of that valuable wood 
 being so often found of little value, when 
 cut up for use for the wounds of such 
 like trees, the application of it might 
 probably be found of more value than is 
 at present thought of. 
 
 Some of the wounds of the oak trees, 
 that were cut off in June and July, 1823, 
 after the great snow in that year, are 
 nearly healed over and all in a very pro- 
 mising and progressive state, without the 
 least tendency to decay of those that 
 were fresh made ; but some decaying or 
 rotten branches that were sawn off at the 
 same time have a very different appear- 
 ance, being decayed into the body of the 
 trees, which must be very striking to 
 those who are open to conviction. 
 
295 
 
 Having observed some spruce firs ai 
 Hamsterley, which had some branches 
 sawn off about 2 years ago, at an inch or 
 two from the stem and some even longer, 
 and a composition had been used ; I found 
 the bark had protruded and covered the 
 ends of those stumps, which very much 
 surprised me, as I did not think the bark 
 would have covered and grown over 
 them at that distance from the bole ; 
 on observing this circumstance, I was 
 induced to try if it would have the same 
 effects upon the oak branches; accordingly 
 I sawed some branches off the young 
 vigorous oaks, at from 1 to 3 inches from 
 the stem, and applied the cow dung at the 
 time, and have found all the stumps dead 
 to the stem ; consequently, oak branches 
 should be cut off close to the stem ; some 
 branches, which I cut off close, on the 
 same tree and time, and applied the cow 
 dung, are beautifully healing over, others 
 so done but without the application have 
 made no progress. I tried one branch 
 with a live twig on it, at about 3 inches 
 from the stem, and where it was sawn off 
 
296 
 
 the stump is quite dead, except a very 
 narrow strip which conveys the sap to and 
 from the live twig ; which circumstances 
 prove it best to cut branches from oak 
 trees close to the stem, except in such 
 cases as I have before stated. 
 
 In respect to the application of cow 
 dung, or any composition, to the wounds 
 on the resinous trees, I am inclined to 
 think it quite useless, as there issues a 
 resinous matter from between each year's 
 growth for 7 or 8 of the rings or year's 
 growth, which may shew how long the 
 young wood conveys the sap, and which 
 perfectly answers the end by excluding 
 the air from cracking the wood where the 
 branch was cut off, and preventing the 
 bark from drying and separating from the 
 wood in hot dry weather, which is the case 
 with the oak, and other trees of that na- 
 ture. The great use of the plaster appears 
 in keeping the wood and bark in the same 
 state or nearly as when the bark is on and 
 till the new has time to grow, as the dung 
 is effectual in excluding both air and wet. 
 I have grafted with it instead of clay 
 
297 
 
 with great success, and it must be used in 
 a stiffer state than when applied to wounds 
 of trees, because it will not stick on, unless 
 it is frequently applied a little at a time, 
 which would be too troublesome where 
 there is much grafting to perform. 
 
 Another very useful and valuable pur- 
 pose to which the plaster may be applied, 
 and what I have practised with great 
 success is, to heal the wounds and prevent 
 their further decay, on those valuable 
 kinds of apple, pear, and other fruit trees 
 that are apt to canker, by cutting out the 
 decayed bark as soon as it is perceived, 
 and before it has spread all round the 
 branch, for it is like a mortification, and 
 spreads rapidly ; many a fine bearing 
 branch might be preserved and prolonged 
 for years if this was attended to and 
 practised regularly once or twice a year, 
 or whenever such decay of the bark 
 appears, which often begins at a dead 
 spur, or fruit-bearing bud or stalk ; but 
 whether it arises from an insect of the 
 maggot or any other kind as some believe, 
 g p 
 
298 
 
 I shall not attempt to decide, as I cannot 
 satisfy myself on that subject ; but on the 
 utility of cutting out the decaying bark, 
 and applying the plaster to those parts, 
 which must be renewed when the new 
 bark has forced it off, to keep the exposed 
 wood from drying too much, I have no 
 doubt, having kept a branch alive all 
 this hot and dry Summer, which had the 
 bark off all round for more than S inches, 
 and for 6 inches two- thirds of the circum- 
 ference, (and only a small branch) by co- 
 vering it with cow dung ; the wood appears 
 quite dry, but if there had been fruit I 
 have no doubt it would have ripened. 
 
 When trees are ringed to cause them 
 to bear fruit, or make fresh wood in any 
 part that it is wanted, it is of the utmost 
 importance, by preventing the wood from 
 drying and cracking till the upper and 
 lower branches unite, which might be in 
 1 or 2 years, at pleasure ; by not cutting 
 the ring too wide at first when they 
 have united or nearly so, it can be enlarged 
 by taking another ring from the lower 
 
299 
 
 part where they are uniting, till the ob- 
 ject is accomplished, whether in making 
 the tree fruitful, or in procuring fresh 
 branches in any part of the tree, thereby 
 preserving the top or branch of the tree 
 so operated upon. When the bark on 
 the cankered branches of apple trees is 
 decayed all round, if not too wide, by 
 applying the dung the branch will be 
 preserved, till the barks unite again, and 
 the form and beauty of the tree preserved, 
 and, what is of much more consequence, 
 the already strong and improved bearing 
 branch, which must be apparent to practi- 
 cal gardeners and others. 
 
 It is probable, when felling oak cop- 
 pices or small trees, if boys or girls 
 were employed to cover the cut stumps 
 with fresh cow dung, it would greatly 
 facilitate their springing from the roots, 
 and prevent the bark (from the heat and 
 dryness of the weather) separating from 
 the wood at the wounded part, and prevent 
 the death of many a root of any kind of 
 trees it would be desirable to keep alive 
 
300 
 
 and in a vigorous state to produce future 
 crops, which are more quickly raised from 
 these established roots than planting 
 young trees. 
 
 If any of these experiments and sug- 
 gestions should be the means of causing 
 others to pursue and make further at- 
 tempts to elucidate so important and 
 desirable an object, I shall feel myself 
 highly gratified. 
 
.'301 
 
 SECTION TIL 
 
 On reclaiming and bringing woods and plan- 
 tations that have been neglected, or got 
 into a ruinous stunted state for want of 
 thinning, §c. into a healthy and profitable 
 condition. 
 
 How, or which is the best way, to bring 
 plantations, that have been neglected and 
 in a ruinous and stunted state, into health 
 and vigour again, is a very natural pro- 
 position, and has been put even to me, 
 therefore I hope to be excused if I offer 
 a few remarks upon so interesting and 
 important a subject. 
 
 Where plantations have been neglected 
 and injured by having been over crowded 
 when young, and where the trees are 
 drawn up tall, weak, stunted, or hide- 
 bound, with but very few branches upon 
 them near the top or on one side, the best 
 method of restoring them that occurs to 
 me is, to take out a sufficient number of 
 the fir tribe if there are any, or any other 
 
302 
 
 trees of inferior quality and value, to 
 make sufficient space to admit light and 
 room for the injured oaks or other trees 
 that it might be desirable to retain, to 
 bring into a healthy and vigorous state 
 again as soon as possible. 
 
 Often have I seen thousands of small 
 firs, that have been overgrown and topped 
 by others, left to rot and decay, that might 
 have been taken out, with the greatest 
 advantage to the proprietor, for many of 
 the purposes I have pointed out, and of 
 the utmost benefit to the remaining best 
 trees that have got the lead, and which 
 ought to be retained, for it is in vain to 
 expect the fir tribe to recover after they 
 have been long in that state ; oaks, elms, 
 chesnuts, and some others, probably may 
 by proper means being used, which I shall 
 endeavour to point out. The beech, I 
 believe, is an exception, as I think it will 
 not make fresh branches so freely after 
 being long in a stunted state or under 
 others ; therefore I think it should be 
 served the same as the firs. — I shall for- 
 bear to point out any instances, as I wish 
 
303 
 
 to induce all proprietors to look after such 
 matters, and to judge for themselves. 
 
 After a sufficient portion of the useless 
 and annoying trees and other undergrowth 
 is cut down and removed, what can be con- 
 verted to any useful purpose so as to clear 
 the expence (and if any profit so much the 
 better) or laid upon the ground to decay 
 in such a manner as to forward that oper- 
 ation of nature ; if it will not pay for the 
 removal, or might do harm to the plants 
 or trees it is wished to restore to health 
 and vigour, cutting the largest of it to 
 pieces, and laying it near the ground that 
 it might not interfere or injure the fresh 
 branches or leaves of the living plants, 
 supposing oaks are the principal trees to 
 renovate, although the same rules will 
 apply to most other forest trees, except 
 the fir or pine tribe. 
 
 After such trees are removed as it is not 
 thought possible or desirable to attempt 
 to renovate, I would begin to head some 
 of them down (the weakest and those 
 with the fewest branches on) to different 
 heights from the ground, and perhaps 
 
304 
 
 cut some close to the soil, according to 
 circumstances ; but, if there should be 
 much underwood or other cover that 
 would get up quickly to injure the young 
 shoots, I would prefer cutting them off at 
 a considerable height from the ground, 
 and make one or more perpendicular in- 
 cisions through the bark with a knife, or 
 any proper instrument, the whole length 
 of the stem. Trees of 20, 30, or even 
 more years' growth, might probably be 
 renovated, and set in a growing vigorous 
 state again, which would be of immense 
 importance. If they are thought too 
 thick to head off, to cut out a ring of 
 bark all round the stem (an operation 
 which must be performed when the sap 
 is in motion) at any height the proprietor 
 or operator might deem most eligible, 
 and the ring of bark to be from an inch 
 to 2, 3, or more in breadth, to allow 1, 2, 
 or 3 years before the disjoined barks unite 
 again ; for, perhaps, the first year it might 
 not be able to make fresh strong shoots 
 below the incision, but in the second or 
 third it might ; for we should not be dis- 
 
305 
 
 couraged if Nature does not operate so 
 quickly as we wish, for there are many 
 intricacies in her works which we cannot 
 unravel. — By applying the cow dung where 
 the bark has been removed and heads 
 taken off, as explained in section 2d, will 
 keep the head alive, and prevent any in- 
 jurious effects to the wood till the barks 
 and young woods unite. 
 
 If this method should fail, it will at 
 any rate have the same effects as heading 
 them off, for the plants are sure to make 
 wood below the circular rings, and the 
 dead tops could be cut off afterwards, but 
 it would be more troublesome after the 
 young shoots are made. At the time of 
 ringing trees of this age and size, I would 
 make the perpendicular incisions through 
 the bark from the root to the ring, and 
 perhaps, in some cases, extend it above 
 the rings. This Summer I have made a 
 single incision as high as I could reach up 
 the stems of a few stunted oaks of 50 
 years growth ; one of the trees has swelled 
 an inch in girt, the others not so much, 
 therefore I can say no more on the subject 
 l 2 q 
 
306 
 
 till further experience, only that the inci- 
 sions are united with fresh bark, and the 
 heads have made no young shoots this 
 year, the leaves having been injured by a 
 species of caterpillar early in the Spring. 
 
 Where there are healthy branches on 
 one side of a fine young tree extending a 
 long way from the stem, which is very 
 often the case where plants have stood 
 close together and have had only one side 
 towards the light or open space to extend 
 its branches, then it would not be amiss 
 to shorten those branches in nearer to the 
 stem, to prevent them hanging down, or 
 from being blown about by the wind, al- 
 ways to where there is a living sprig or 
 small branch ; and, by taking out a ring 
 of bark half way or nearly all round the 
 stem, leaving only a little bark on one 
 side to insure the life of the head, and 
 always applying cow dung, will very pro- 
 bably cause it to throw out strong shoots 
 on the side destitute of branches, where 
 the ascending sap is checked, to the sup- 
 port and increase of the stem, as we have 
 seen that trees cannot increase without 
 branches. 
 
307 
 
 I have practised this method, with the 
 greatest success, upon fruit trees which 
 have had branches on one side only, and 
 which have formed fine healthy heads, 
 for producing young shoots or wood on 
 the naked or destitute part of the stem 
 or branches of trained trees ; and I have 
 no doubt of its efficacy on several kinds 
 of forest trees, particularly the oak and 
 Spanish chesnut. 
 
 These hints and observations I intend 
 principally for the consideration of those 
 gentlemen who have woods and planta- 
 tions in such a state (of which I fear there 
 are too many) to induce them to consider 
 and try a few experiments of this sort, 
 and to be convinced before they give 
 their fiat to have trees of 30 or 40 years 
 growth cut down as unreclaimable, per- 
 haps to plant the ground over again with 
 inferior sorts, which may in all probability 
 be smothered or injured again in a few 
 years and in the same manner as I 1: 
 often witnessed. 
 
 As, according to our criminal laws 
 (which it is a consolation to reflect are in 
 
308 
 
 a fair way of being revised and improved) 
 many a fine young man has been cut off 
 in the prime of life, who, with a little care 
 and good management, might have been 
 reclaimed and made a useful member of 
 society ; just so is it with a young bad 
 tree, which is certainly much sooner cut 
 down than renovated ; but murk, it takes 
 a long time to rear a young tree to be as 
 thick as a person's arm or leg, particularly 
 where plants have been crowded ; conse- 
 quently, it must be of the greatest impor- 
 tance to the owner to try every possible 
 means to reclaim and bring those esta- 
 blished trees into a healthy and vigorous 
 state, before the fatal sentence of extermi- 
 nation is past and put in execution. 
 
 Before I quit this subject it may not 
 be amiss to notice, that I have observed 
 the larch and beech much more and 
 oftener blighted or injured by the frosts 
 in low moist situations, than the oak, 
 consequently they are not so proper to be 
 planted in such places ; the Scotch and 
 spruce firs, perhaps, would be more pro- 
 per ; the oak and ash will thrive, and 
 
809 
 
 withstand the cold and boisterous wester- 
 ly winds, much better than the beech, or 
 even the larch or spruce firs, after they 
 have got to a good size, of course are 
 more hardy and fit for such situations, 
 and appear in a healthy and vigorous 
 state when the larch, &c. appear to have 
 done growing. 
 
 I have observed some oaks to have a fine 
 healthy appearance on a part of Corbridge 
 Fell, where have been originally planted 
 little else but Scotch firs ; probably these 
 oaks were planted about 40 years ago, 
 when the Fell was first inclosed ; but as 
 the Scotch firs were planted very thick, 
 the greater part of the oaks must have 
 been destroyed ; those, however, which I 
 saw appeared healthy and very likely to 
 thrive on such land, especially now that 
 they have had light more freely admitted 
 to them, the greater part of the firs having 
 been cut down where they were growing. 
 
 Some think the land deteriorated by 
 producing a crop of Scotch, larch, or other 
 firs, of 40 or 50 years' growth ; but I be- 
 lieve it is equally capable of bringing the 
 
310 
 
 oak or any other wood to perfection, had 
 such trees been planted at first or any 
 time afterwards, provided they could be 
 established in the ground. How they 
 might thrive in the commencement of 
 their growth on land that has been cleared 
 of firs of that age, and planted afresh 
 while the old roots are decaying, I cannot 
 give an opinion, having had no experience 
 of that kind. — Perhaps putting a little 
 fresh soil in the holes nearest the old root 
 stumps, might be the cheapest method, 
 and greatly facilitate the young plants 
 in striking fresh roots and establishing 
 themselves ; a cart-load, from some adjoin- 
 ing land, would go a great way, if the 
 plants and holes were small. This might 
 be an experiment well worth trying, by 
 those who have such old fir grounds to 
 replant. 
 
311 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Further remarks on the probable utility of 
 the furze, or whin, as food for various 
 animals. — Shelter, fencing, $c. 
 
 Since I wrote the remarks on the whins, 
 at page 14 and 15, I have been at consi- 
 derable pains to find out a cheap, simple, 
 easy, and effectual method of preparing 
 the young whin for food, so as to be 
 within the reach of the poor inhabitants 
 of those districts where it abounds or 
 might be naturalized, and where other 
 fodder is often both scarce and dear, and 
 to whose use it is most likely to become 
 applicable. 
 
 A very ingenious mechanic, a neigh- 
 bour of mine, Mr Joseph Hepple of Black 
 Hall Mills, who makes the German steel 
 for Messrs Cookson of Newcastle, has 
 tried it upon a machine on the principle 
 of the common malt mill, to bruise it be- 
 tween two metal rollers. This we found 
 answered the purpose in respect to the 
 
312 
 
 bruising effectually, except the points of 
 the spines which it would not touch, and 
 which I found would have been tedious 
 and troublesome to the cattle to get in 
 their mouths without pricking them ; but 
 the greatest objection was pressing out 
 the juice, which is the nutritive part, and 
 if it was not used immediately it quickly 
 dried, and became little better than straw 
 or chaff, of course that method I could 
 not approve of ; but not to be discouraged 
 by a few obstacles, he made me a model of 
 another machine on the principle of the 
 forge hammer, which Mr Bewick, (who is 
 much interested in this matter,) did me 
 the honour to present to the Mechanics' 
 Institute at Newcastle, to see if it could 
 be made more simple, &c. by any of the 
 ingenious members of that useful society. 
 Mr Cail, the secretary, has shewn it to 
 some of them, who think it so simple it 
 can scarcely be improved. But I have 
 been presented with a sketch of another, 
 on the principle of a stamping machine, 
 to be worked by the hand with a windlass 
 in the same manner as the other, to have 
 
313 
 
 about 4 stampers or beaters, with or with- 
 out a knife or knives in each to bruise or 
 chop it, and which move or act alternately 
 one at a time ; but I am decidedly of opi- 
 nion that chopping is preferable to bruis- 
 ing, for the reasons already given. The 
 one with the stampers appears to require 
 more wood and materials in the construc- 
 tion than the other, consequently would 
 be more expensive, and probably sooner 
 out of order and want repairs, which 
 should be avoided as much as possible. 
 The other is to have 3 or 4 knives fixed 
 to or in the head of the hammer or bea- 
 ter, which can be made to strike very 
 quick or slow ; however, not having had 
 one of either principle made to witness 
 its actual performance, I have not thought 
 it necessary to represent either by a plate ; 
 but Mr Hepple is going to make me one 
 for my own use according to his model, 
 when I shall see the actual operation, and 
 be the better able to judge of its merits. 
 
 How the whins act upon horses, in a 
 medicinal point of view, I cannot tell : but 
 I perceived my horse in a fortnight's time, 
 2 it 
 
314 
 
 after I commenced giving it to him last 
 Spring, considerably improved both as to 
 condition and vigour, for he had no corn. 
 I thought it caused him to stale oftener, 
 but whether it was so I will not positively 
 assert ; I have tried and find pigs will eat 
 it freely when chopped small, by chewing 
 and sucking out the juice, and rejecting 
 the woody fibrous part, similar to what 
 they do with the inside cuticle of pea-pod. 
 This might be of great importance to poor 
 people who can keep a pig or two, and who 
 often find great difficulty in procuring 
 food for them ; and it might act as a 
 stimulus in causing them to take other 
 food, and perhaps prevent some diseases 
 they are subject to. However it is not 
 improbable, would some able chymist but 
 analyze its nutritive and physical proper- 
 ties, that the cultivation and importance of 
 the whin, as an article of food for various 
 kinds of animals, may be of much more 
 consequence than appears at first sight, 
 as well as its usefulness for fencing and 
 shelter in enclosing and dividing land, in 
 high, barren, and bleak situations. 
 
I am indebted lor some of my ideas on 
 the probable vast importance of the whin 
 in dividing of enclosed lands into fields I'm 
 shelter, and food for sheep on cold open 
 sheep farms in the north of England and 
 Scotland, where vast numbers are lost in 
 severe Winters for want of shelter and 
 food, to the celebrated engraver on wood, 
 Mr Bewick of Newcastle, who had disco- 
 vered its use as food for horses, and shel- 
 ter for sheep in severe snow r storms, when 
 a boy, and occupied in looking after sheep 
 on the open fells, and who always found 
 his charge at times under the shelter of 
 some large friendly whin bushes, which 
 would supply them with food when 
 buried deep in drifts of snow till they 
 could be extricated, and who has or had 
 an intention of publishing something on 
 the subject of whins himself. This might 
 be well worthy the serious consideration 
 of those gentlemen who have estates in 
 such districts, as well as to the sheep far- 
 mer and breeder of young cattle in hilly 
 or mountainous countries, and other occu- 
 piers of land of such a nature and situa- 
 
316 
 
 tion, where, by the aid of planting on the 
 poorest exposed parts, together with the 
 shelter afforded from plantations, and this 
 other mode suggested from the whin fen- 
 ces, to check those sweeping cold blasts 
 of wind, snow, &c. so obnoxious to cattle, 
 and detrimental to vegetation. Land at 
 present of little value might, in a very- 
 short time, become, I will not attempt to 
 predict of how much value, yet I have no 
 doubt it would be greatly enhanced ; but 
 this I must leave to be considered and 
 reflected upon by the proprietors of such 
 lands. 
 
 I would fain hope some of the gentle- 
 men connected with the enclosing and 
 dividing of Barlow Fell, situate in the 
 parish of Iiyton in the county of Durham, 
 will try the whins, if only on a small 
 scale, to enclose or divide some of the 
 highest and exposed poorest parts of it, 
 as an example or trial in this partly hilly 
 and barren country, but where the whin 
 grows with the greatest luxuriance. 
 
317 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 On the fruit of the common bramble — Re- 
 marks on the probable virtues and uses of 
 our native fruits and herbs. 
 
 Having pointed out the usefulness of the 
 common whin as fencing, shelter, and food 
 for animals, suffer me now to observe that 
 even the poor despised bramble has more 
 valuable qualities than is generally im- 
 agined, and what other uses or perfection 
 it might be brought to if cultivated, and 
 pains taken as with other fruits, we can 
 only surmise ; but, as I have before re- 
 marked, it appears clear that Providence 
 has provided both food and medicine for 
 the several tribes of animals, plants, 
 insects, &c. according to the various cli- 
 mates and local situations on the earth, 
 is it not very probable that the native 
 fruits and herbs of each particular climate 
 are the most proper and best adapted for 
 the sustenance and health of the various 
 inhabitants of it, if the pride of man 
 would condescend to make use of them ? 
 
318 
 
 But it is strange that various things are 
 despised or thought but little of, if they 
 are common or easily obtained ; even the 
 fruit of the common bramble, generally 
 called blackberries, which some people 
 would scarce deign to taste, may perhaps 
 be possessed of great nutritive and medi- 
 cinal properties, and might well deserve 
 to be analyzed by those scientific men 
 who have the means and abilities to pur- 
 sue such inquiries for the good of their 
 fellow creatures. Of the uses and proba- 
 ble qualities of this despised fruit I shall 
 state a few particulars that have come to 
 my knowledge, and then leave the subject 
 to be further considered by others more 
 competent. 
 
 To the poor in the vicinity of Newcastle 
 it is of great importance, many of whom go 
 a great number of miles to gather black- 
 berries while they are in season, and carry 
 them from 10 to 20 miles, to Newcastle, 
 Shields, and Sunderland, where they some- 
 times sell them as high as 3d and 4d per 
 quart, for puddings, tarts, preserves, or 
 jellies, and even making of wines to the 
 
319 
 
 rich and opulent; for here, where other 
 fruits are scarce and dear, they are thought 
 highly of. By most people the fruit is 
 much esteemed and sought after ; by the 
 wives and mothers of the sailors employed 
 in the mighty deep, to send on board the 
 ships, as they are found or believed to be 
 very healthful to the men to eat with their 
 biscuits, as well as for tarts and puddings, 
 much more so than their common fare of 
 salt beef and pork. 
 
 All through the season, after the goose- 
 berries are over, (for apples, pears, or plums 
 are often both scarce and dear in this coun- 
 try, and out of the reach of poor people) 
 they are regaled with the fruit of the 
 bramble as the greatest luxury for pud- 
 dings, tarts, &c. and would probably lay 
 in a store for future consumption if sugar 
 was cheaper, a necessary ingredient to 
 preserve them. There is little doubt but 
 an excellent wine might be made from 
 them alone, or perhaps mixed with cur- 
 rants, both as a nutritive and medicinal be- 
 verage for poor or even rich people, much 
 more cheap, wholesome, and grateful than 
 
320 
 
 the often adulterated and expensive fo- 
 reign wines, that are recommended by the 
 faculty in such cases ; in fact, when people 
 could make such wines themselves upon 
 the first symptoms of an illness, a glass or 
 two of this simple fluid occasionally given, 
 or the fruit used as a jelly to bread, might 
 prevent or mitigate the attack of nume- 
 rous diseases and complaints the human 
 frame is subject to ; and it is well known 
 that diseases are often suffered to get to a 
 head, or make great inroads in the consti- 
 tution, before people think of seeking for 
 help ; and when the expence of a doctor is 
 thought of, to persons of an honest princi- 
 ple, many a dear and valuable friend and 
 member of society may be suffered to 
 languish and expire for want of timely 
 assistance and nourishing support ; but if 
 the medicinal and nutritive qualities of 
 these common productions of Nature 
 were better understood, we should all be 
 induced to imitate the ants and bees, and 
 provide against the evil day. 
 
 I knew a lady, Mrs Aufrere, grand- 
 mother of the present Lord Yarborough. 
 
.321 
 
 who was so well convinced of many of the 
 highly valuable properties of this common 
 fruit, that she always had some gathered 
 in the season for preserves, jellies, &c. 
 for colds and sore throats ; and I should 
 earnestly hope that the hints here given 
 will stir up others to analyze and study 
 the nature, properties, and uses of the 
 herbs and fruits of our native country, 
 as there is little doubt they are possessed 
 of qualities which are little thought of by 
 the greater proportion of the inhabitants. 
 In former times when Gerard wrote, 
 and even in our own time as I have wit- 
 nessed myself, surprising cures have been 
 effected by some simple British herbs, 
 which have been administered by poor 
 country people ; but as it is common 
 with great men or regular practitioners 
 to think it beneath them to use these 
 common things, it would be well if men 
 of learning and science would condescend 
 to notice and bend their attention to the 
 subject, it might then perhaps become 
 fashionable to make use of them ; then 
 these simple despised fruits and herbs of 
 
322 
 
 this country might be found and acknow- 
 ledged by the reflecting part to have been 
 planted here by the beneficent Author of 
 Nature for the health, sustenance, and 
 benefit of the different orders of creatures 
 he designed to inhabit it, and which some 
 of us presumptuously or unthinkingly too 
 often term cursed useless weeds ! 
 
 Any one who is curious could try a few 
 plants of the bramble in a garden, trained 
 as an arbour, or similar to what I have 
 recommended for currants, and as high as 
 hop poles ; of course they, like the whin, 
 will grow where little else can, but per- 
 haps not to bring the fruit to great per- 
 fection. I must beg leave to caution the 
 fair sex, if they should chance to eat any 
 of them in puddings or tarts, that they 
 will certainly discolour their teeth and 
 lips, but I have the consolation to add 
 that it will wear off much sooner than an 
 ill name or report. 
 
 The Vaccinium Myrtillus, bilberry, blea- 
 berry, or whatever other provincial name 
 it may go by y appears to possess a large 
 proportion of saccharine matter, and an 
 
323 
 
 excellent wine might be made from it, 
 nearly equal to port, by the aid of sugar, 
 as they ripen at a season when the sun 
 has the greatest power in this climate, 
 which is perhaps of very great importance 
 to the strength of the spirit contained in 
 the fruit. The taste and colour very much 
 resemble crusted port wine, as I have been 
 informed by a lady who made some wine 
 from a few which only took a pound and 
 a half of sugar to make a gallon of the 
 wine, which was of an excellent quality, 
 as testified by her husband, an eminent 
 medical professor. 
 
 Probably, if inducements were held out 
 to cultivate the plant, it might be brought 
 to greater perfection than where it grows 
 naturally, or at least might be brought 
 into more use, and planted where the soil is 
 suitable, to make wine, puddings, or tarts, 
 as the berries are made use of for these pur- 
 poses where they abound, and alibrd em- 
 ployment to poor persons, who gather and 
 carry them about for sale to the more 
 opulent, similar to what they do here 
 with the bramble berry, besides making 
 
324 
 
 use of part for themselves. It has the 
 same quality of discolouring the teeth 
 and lips as the bramble berry. 
 
 But, as I have observed before when 
 treating of currant wine, the price of 
 sugar is a subject of great importance to 
 the making these wines, jellies, preserves, 
 &c. from our native fruits, and would be 
 well worthy the attention of Mr Huskis- 
 son, the present worthy president of the 
 Board of Trade ; for this reason, as well as 
 various others, the common raw or moist 
 sugar will answer most of these purposes 
 as well except for clearness, and perhaps 
 better, than the refined, though I observe 
 in all or the greatest part of the receipts 
 recommended for the rich, nothing will 
 do but the finest lump or powder sugar ; 
 for why? because it is the most expensive, 
 may often be the reason. 
 
 In the receipt for making currant wine 
 I have said, " the fruit should be picked 
 from the stalks ; " but that is not neces- 
 sary, as the fruit squeezes much better 
 with the hands, stalks and berries altoge- 
 ther, and can be easily separated by drain- 
 
3U5 
 
 ing through a fine sieve or cloth, and 
 saves a vast deal of labour, which is often 
 of great consequence. 
 
 Another circumstance I omitted to 
 state concerning the larch training stakes, 
 which it might not be amiss to mention 
 in this place, is, when the larch stakes are 
 cut and used the first year, while the sap 
 is fresh in them, they will not warp or 
 turn crooked in sunny dry weather ; but 
 the second year, when the sap is dead or has 
 lost its virtue, and the stakes have become 
 dry, then, in dry sunny weather, the tops 
 or slender ends of the larches warp and 
 bend in various directions, which causes 
 them to look rather unsightly. This cir- 
 cumstance gave me a good deal of concern 
 when I first observed it, but upon the first 
 rain or damp weather they always resumed 
 their straight and upright position. When 
 they are placed in circles, a small narrow 
 hoop or two near the top and middle, and 
 the stakes nailed to them, would keep 
 them at all times in their position. If 
 used for straight fencing, the upper rail 
 might be placed nearer the tops of the 
 stakes ; but as there is generally much 
 
326 
 
 more damp than dry weather, these pre- 
 cautions might be unnecessary. 
 
 Having before stated that nearly all the 
 larch plants, both large and small, planted 
 on the wet and cohesive strong soil in the 
 Chopwell plantations, were dead, I have 
 very lately observed some larch plants full 
 as large as these that have been planted 
 in a very fine young oak wood, which had 
 been cut down the year before, belonging 
 to the Marquis of Bute, the land full as 
 strong, wet, and cohesive as any at Chop- 
 well, if not more so, which was planted 
 about the latter end of February or be- 
 ginning of March, in the same manner, 
 with a semicircular spade, by taking out 
 only a small spit of soil for the hole about 
 as much as could be held in the two hands ; 
 the land had been much trodden, of course 
 by getting out the wood through the pre- 
 ceding excessive wet Autumn and Winter, 
 at this time, (September 1825,) nearly the 
 whole of the plants are alive, and look as 
 well as could be expected, considering such 
 a dry season. — Surely facts like these must 
 be convincing, and of importance enough 
 to be generally known. 
 
327 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 H'uits for an Arborecultural Society — Its 
 beneficial tendency. 
 
 I sincerely hope that what I have proved 
 and have been endeavouring to explain 
 through this work, may, if only in a small 
 degree, be the means of inducing those 
 noblemen and gentlemen who have ex- 
 tensive plantations, as well as those who 
 have the management of wood lands and 
 plantations for the benefit of others, seri- 
 ously to reflect and consider of what vast 
 importance it is to attend to the minute 
 as well as the greater circumstances, and 
 to study and understand these matters 
 themselves, as there are but few persons 
 who will do or see the business done so 
 well as the master himself when he un- 
 derstands it, because he of course is, or 
 ought to be, the most interested in such 
 healthy and pleasurable employment; as 
 this, one would think, should be equally 
 as attractive and far more beneficial to in- 
 
328 
 
 duce gentlemen to stop in the country 
 on their own estates, as ranging over the 
 fields in pursuit of game. 
 
 It must be evident to any gentleman, 
 who reflects upon the subject, what im- 
 mense profits and advantages may be de- 
 rived from land of very little value for 
 any other purposes to himself, his chil- 
 dren, and posterity, by timely care and skill 
 in the management of plantations ! I have 
 not attempted to calculate the profits in 
 pounds, shillings, and pence, per acre; 
 because, I believe, both the profits and 
 losses on either side are alike incalculable, 
 dependant upon local situations, and a 
 variety of other circumstances not ne- 
 cessary to repeat or enumerate. 
 
 How gratifying must it be to the heart 
 of the patriot to see fine oak and other 
 woods flourish on barren wilds and uncul- 
 tivated heaths and mountains, for the fu- 
 ture safety and grandeur of his country ! 
 And how well deserving of his considera- 
 tion at this time, when there are such 
 numerous projects for new canals and 
 roads of various descriptions, and easy 
 
329 
 
 and cheap conveyances for heavy goods, 
 and which will undoubtedly increase the 
 consumption of wood in various ways ! 
 
 We have Linnaean, Agricultural, and 
 Horticultural Societies, and numerous 
 other useful associations, which have no 
 doubt done much good ; why, then, may 
 we not have an Arborecultural Society (if 
 I may be allowed the term) as much 
 wanted to promote and encourage the 
 art and knowledge of forest tree culture, 
 when it must, I presume, be acknow- 
 ledged it is far behind both Agriculture 
 and Horticulture, to which it is so nearly 
 allied ? I as an individual think it would 
 be of infinite importance, for the good 
 of the country in general as well as of 
 individuals, if something of that nature 
 were instituted by Government, or by 
 patriotic gentlemen who have the means, 
 and are willing to combine it with the 
 Horticultural societies, that practical gar- 
 deners may be strongly urged to study to 
 make themselves proficient in both arts, 
 or rather a branch of the art, of garden- 
 o T 
 
330 
 
 ing; because, it must be admitted, that 
 the care and management of woods and 
 plantations are generally and much too 
 often left to persons who have never stu- 
 died either the one or the other, and who 
 understand neither the nature or practical 
 part of it — But who are the sufferers ? 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Preston & Heaton, Printers, 
 Newcastle upon Tyne. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 9, line 6 from bottom, for bruited read browsed. 
 60, line 7 from top, for shabby read shrubby. 
 131, line 7 from top, alter said add if. 
 22&, line 2 from top, for end read rrr. 
 252, line 4 from top, for plant read part. 
 265, line 8 from bottom, for cramps read craps.