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Show A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. Introd, of Tillage, caufed through that prodigious havock madebyfuch as lately profeffing themlelves againft Root and Branch (eithe r to be re-imburs'd’ of their Holy purchafes, or for fome other fordid refpe&) were tempted, notonly tofell and cut down, but a ly to grub up, demolifh, and raze, as it were, all thofe na ly Woods, and Forests, which our more prudent Anceftors le ‘ anding, for the Ornament, and fervice of their Country, And this devaftation is now become {o Epidemical , ‘that unlefs fome favourable expedient offer it felf, anda way beferioufly, and fpeedily refolv’d upon, for the future repair ofthis intolerable defeét, oneof the moft glorious, ry conteie Bulwarks of this Nation, will, jithin fhort time, be totally wanting toit. a To attend nowa iesuenel fupply of thefe decay’d Azaterials (which is the vulgar, and natural way) would coft (befides the Inclofure) fome entire Ages repofe of the Plow: Therefore, the moft expeditious, and obvious Afethod, would (doubtlefs ) be by one of thefe two ways, Sewing, or Planting. But, firft, it will be requifite to agree upon the Species; as what Trees are likely to be ofgreateft Ue, and thefitteft to be cultivated; and then, to confider of the A4azner howit may beft be effected. Truly, the wafte, and deftru(tion of our Woods, has been fo univerfal, that I conceive nothing lefs then an univerfal Plantation of all the forts of Trees will fupply, and well encounter the defe@; and therefore, I fhall here adventureto {peak fomething in general of them all, though 1 chiefly infift upon the propagation offach only as feemto be the moft wanting, and ferviceable, 3. And firftby Trees here, 1 confider principally for the Genus generaliffimum, fuch Lignous and woody Plants, as are bard offub{tance,procereof flature s that are thick and folid, andftifly adhere to the Ground on which they ftand : Thefe we fhall divide into the Greater and more Ceduous, Fruticant and Shrubby; Feras and wilds or more Civiliz’d and domeftique; and fuch as are Sative and Hortenfial fubalternate to the other; But of which I give only atouch, diftributing the ref into thefe two Clafés, the Dry, and the Aquatic ; both of them applicable to the fame civil ufes of Building, Utexfils, Ornament andFuel; for to dipinto their Medicinal virtues is none of my Province, thoughI fometimes glance at them with due fubmiffion, and in few Inflances. 4. Among the dry, | efteem the more principal, andfolid, to be the Oak, Elme, Beech, Afh, Chefs. nut, Wall-nut, oc. The lef& principal, the Service, Maple, Lime:tree, Horn- beam, Quick-beam, Birch, Hafel,@c, togetherwithall their fub-alternate, and feveral kinds. —~— Which of how many forts they are, Wecan’t at prefent here ftand to declare. Sed neque quam multa [pecies, nec nomina que fint, Est numevus, Geor. 2. 5- Ofthe Aquatical, | reckonthe Poplars, Alp, Alder, Willow, Sallow, Ofer, &c. Then I thall add a word or two, for the encoura gement of the planting of Frait-trees, together with fome lef vulgar, but no lefs wfefiel Trees, which, as yer are not endenizon’d amongtt us,or (at leaft,) not much taken notice of : Andin purfuance hereof, Introd. A Difcourfe of Forett-Trees of, I fhall obferve this order = Firft, to fhew how they are tobe Raifed, and then tobeCultivated ; Byraifing, | underftand the Seed and the Soi; by Culture the Planting, Fencing, Watering, Drejfing, Pruning and( utting ; ofall which briefly. 6. And firft for their Raifing, fome there are, Spring of themfelves unforc’t by human care, ——Nullis hominum cogentibus, ipfa Sponte [ua veninnte —— Specifying according to the various difpofition of the 4ir and Soil ; Some from their Seeds arife, Bars autem pofito furgunt de femines Asthe Oak, Chef-nut, Afh, &c. Some to the{KGroves from their own Rootsdofpring, Pullulat abradice aljis densfisfima Syloa, As the Elme, Alder,@3c. and there are others, Grow withont Root Nil radicis egess ioainay as Willows, andall the Vimineous kinds, which are railed of Sets only. Thefe wayesfirft Nature gave, Hos natura modos primim dedit —— For thus we fee there are more ways to the Wood than one; and the has furnifh’d us with variety ofexpedients, 7. And here we might fall into a deep Philofe pbical Refearch, whether the Earthit felfin fome place thereof or other, even without Seed, Branch or Root, &c. would produc e every kind of Vegetable, asit manifeftly does, divers forts of Graf and Plants > (viz, ) the Tre-fole or Clover in fucculent land ; In dry and Rag-weeds , In the very moylt, Argentina, laggs, ground Atay 8c. And the very barren Ferme, Broome,and Heath, &c. So Virgil notes fterile places for the Pitch-tree; we our wett and Uligiuous for Birch, Alder, &c, The more lofty,poor and perflatile for Exgh, Guinipe r, Box, and the like; and weread in the Natural Hiftori es ofdivers Countries, that the Cedar, Palmetos Queen-Pines, Ebony, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, &e, For Trees 5 the Tx/ip, Hyacinth, Crocus, &c. For Flowers,are fometimes,a ndin fomeregions Aborigines, defcen ded immediately from the Genius of the Soyls, Climate, Sun, Shade, Air, Winds, Water, Niterous- Salts, Rocks, Bankes, Shores, and (asthe Negros-Hleads in the Barbados) even without Seed, or any perceptible rudiment. But with all this we are not fatisfied without fuppofing fome previous feminal difpofition lurking, and difpers'd ia every part of the Earth, in what Afolecule or fubtile contextures we fhall not enquire, but though happly not at firlt fo perfect as the maturer ds oftheir after peculiar Plants yet fuch as arefit for the Suz sto Operate on,’til they have prepar’d, difcufs'd, and and Prolifique vettue to exert it (elf and aout of fleep, in which they layas in their canfes Andfree f | om thofe impediments which hindred their Specifica- uvity: This Conception the learned Gaffend us would the latent frein Flints, which never betrays it felf tik |
