OCR Text |
Show QU let them grow very large before they are planted out, becaufe thefe are very hazardov Trees to remove whenold, orafter they have taken deep Root. The Seafon for this Work is (as I faid) juft before they begin to fhoot in the Spring, at which Time, ifthey are carefully taken up, there will be little Danger of their fucceeding. When theyare planted, the Surface of the Ground fhould be mulched about their Roots, to prevent its drying too faft ; and if the Seafon is very dry, they fhould be watered, to fettle the Earth to their Roots, which may be repeated two or three times in very dry Weather, but you mutt carefully avoid giving them too much Water, which is very injurious to thefe Trees, when newly removed. You fhould alfo ftake them, to prevent their being thaken and difturb’d by the Winds, which would retard their Rooting. In tranf planting of thefe Trees, you fhould by no means cut their Heads, which is too much practis'd; all that thould done, muft be only to cut off any bruifed, or ill-placed Branches, which fhould be taken off clofe to the Place where they are produced ; but there can be no greater Injury done to thefe Trees, than to fhorten their Shoots; for whenthe leading Bud (whichis abfolutely neceffary to draw and attract the Nourifhment) is taken off, the Branch often decays entirely, or at leaft down to the next vigorous Bud. The Trees thus rais’d and manag’d, will Gf planted in a properSoil) grow toa confiderable Magnitude, and are very proper for a Wildernefs in large Gardens, or to plant in Clumps in Parks, &c. but if they are defign’d for Timber, it is by much the better Method to fow the Acorns in the Places where they are to remain ; in order to which, you fhould provide your felfin Autumn with a faficient Quantity of Acorns, which fhould be always takenfrom ftrait, upright, Vigorous growing Trees: thefe thould be gathered from under the Trees as foon as may be,after they are failen, and, if poffible, in a dry Time, laying them thin in fome open Room to dry; after which they may be put up in dry Sand, and preferved in a dry Place until the End of Fanary, when youfhould prepare the Ground for planting them. The Manner of doing this, when the Plantation is very large, fhould be, to dig {quare Spots about two Feet over, at every ten Feet a Spring, juft before the Plants begin to thoot the Ditch with a fufficient dry Hedge inter- moft thriving out of each Plot (which ma (which commonly they do on the Bank) to you fhould take them all up, except twoof the be traniplanted into another Place, if fo have occafion for them); but in doing ofthis . you fhould be very carcful not to difturb the Roots of the remaining Plants; and it will be very nce flary to renew the Bufhes about them where they are loft, to protect them from Cattle; and the following Summer they fhould be kept clear from Weeds. In this manner they may remain three or four Years (obferving every Spring to dig and loofen the Earth about their Roots, which will be of great Service to them) by which time you will eafily judge which ofthe two Plants left in each Plot, is likely to make the beft Tree, fo that the other fhould now be taken away, being verycareful how you dig nearthe remaining Plants, left you fhould injure their Roots; and if at this time youfind any of them with very crooked unfightly Stems, you may cut them downnear the Surface of ‘the Ground, and if their Roots are ftrong, they will {end forth ftrait vigorous Shoots the fole lowing Summer, and make kindly handfome Plants When thefe Plants are advanced outofthe Reach of Cattle, they will require but little more Care, except to prune off any ftrong lateral Branches, where theyare produced, in order to ftrengthen the leading Shoot; but youfhould by no means be too bufy in pruning thefe Trees, which will greatly retard their Growth. The Expenceof fuchPlantations is but fmall, efpecially where Labour is cheap, and the Profits which muft arife from them, to the Succeffors of thofe who are fo beneficent to their Pofterity, asto Jay out a {mall Share of their Fortune this Way, will be very great; but as this has been fully treated of by the eminent Mr. Evelyn, fo I fhall not repeat it in this Place, but refer the Curious tohis valuable Treatife of Fore#-Trees, where they will find enough faid to encourage all Gentlemen of Eftates, to lay out fome of their prefent Fortune, to inrich their Families. QUICK, delights in a Ground that is more dry than wet, (for watery Places it abhors.) Plant Quick in the following Manner: Let the firft Rows of Sets be plac’d ina Trench of about half a Foot deep, even with the Top of the Ditch, in fomewhat a floping Diftance, into each of which you fhould put or inclining Pofture; then having rais‘d the four or five found Acorns, about two Inches Bank near a Foot upon them, plant another deep, being careful to cover them all over, left Rowfo as their Tops may jnft peep out over by leaving anyof them above Ground, the Ver- the Middle of the Spaces of the firft Row: minfhould be enticed, and thereby the greateft Thefe coveragain to the Height and Thicknels Part of the Plantation fhould be deftroy’d of the other, and place a third Rank oppofite When the whole Plantation is finifhed, be ofgreat Service to ftick into eachPlot it will to the firft, and then finifh the Bank toits ina few tended Height. {mall Buthes, which will protect the The Diftances of the Plants fhould not be when they appear above Ground, from Plants Cattle above one Foot; andthe Seafon to do the alfo from the Injury of Weather; and Work in, maybe from the Beginning of Febraary till the End of March, orelie in September to the Beginning of December. during § the gtowing ving Seafon, C as which will greatly Promote their Growth; Whenthis is finifh’d, you muft guard eH and the following the Top of the Bank, and the outmoft Verge Hoa be caryectP, te Wee woven from Stake to Stake into the Earth fecure the Quick from the Spoil of Cattle. You mutt alfo be careful to repair fuch as decay, the following Spring, by fupplying the dead, and trimming the reft ; and after three Years Growth, intermix fome Timber-trees amongft them, fuch as Oak, Afb, Beech Maple, Fruit or the like ; which being drawn young out of the Nurferies may be very eafily inferted. y Some, indeed, object againft f{cattering thefe Mafts and Keys among Fences ; which being grown, over-top the Hedge that grows under it, and may prejudice it with their Shade and Drip: But this may be prevented byplanting Hollies (which are Proof againft thefe Impediments) in the Line or Trench where you not good ; or the Biack-thorn, Crab-tree > In Moorifh-ground, Withy, Alb, Maple, Ha/el, (which fome make Hedges of ; but'being fub- ject to the Browfing of Cattle, when the young Shoots appear, it does better in Copfes) thefe not lafting, fhould yet be drove well in at every Yard of Interval, both before and after they are bound, till they have taken the hard Earth, and are very faft; and even your plathed Hedges need fome fmall Thorns to be laid over to protect the Shoots from Cattle and Sheep till they are fomewhat fortify’d ; and the doubler the Winding is lodg’d the better, which fhould be beaten and force’d downtogether with the Stakes as equally as may be. Note, That in floping your Windings, if it be too low done (as very ufually) it frequently mottifies the Tops, therefore it ought to be fo bent as it may not impede the mounting of the Sap. would raife Standards, as far as they ufually fpread in many Years, and which, if plac’d If the Plafb be of an extraordinary Age, at good Diftances, how clofe foever to the wind it at the nether Boughs all together Stem, would (befides their ftout Defence) and cutting the Sets, as directed, permit it prove a great Decoration to large and ample rather to hang downwards a little than to rife Inclofures. too forward, and then twift the Branches In February or Offober, with a fharp Hand- into the Work, leaving a Set free and unconbill, cut awayall fuperfluous Sprays and Strag- ftrain’d at every Yard-fpace, befides fuch as glers; then fearch out the principal Stems, will ferve for Stakes, abated to about five and with a keen and light Hatchet cut them Feet Length, (which is a competent Stature flant-wife clofe to the Ground hardly three- for a Hedge) and fo let it ftand. quarters through, or rather fo far only astill One fhall oftenfind in this Work, efpecially you can make them comply handfomely, left in old neglected Hedges, fome great Trees or you rift the Stem, and fo lay it from you Stubs, that commonly make Gaps for Cattle : floping as you go, folding in the leffer Such fhould be cut fo near the Barth, as till Branches which {pring from them ; and ever you can lay them athwart, that the Top of within five or fix Feet Diftance, where you one may reft on the Root or Stub of the other find an upright Set, (cutting off only the Top as far as they extend, ftopping the Cavities to the Height of your intended Hedge) let with its Boughs and Branches: And thus a it ftand as a Stake, to fortify your Work, Hedge, which feems to confift of nothing but and to receive the twining of thofe Branches {crubby Trees and Stumps, maybe reduc’d to about it. a tolerable Fence; but in cafe it be fuperanLaftly, at the Top, Cwhich fhould be about nuated, it is advifeable to ftub all up, and five Feet above Ground) take the longeft, quite to renewit. moft {lender and flexible Twigs which you reThomas Franklin, Efq; has given the fols ferv'd, and (being cut as the former, where lowing Account of his Method of planting Need requires) bind in the Extremities of all Quick. _ the reft ; and thus your Work is finith’d. ‘He firft fet out the Ground for Ditches and This being done veryclofe and thick, makes Quick ten Feet in Breadth; he fubdivided an impregnable Hedge in few Years, for it that, by marking out two Feet and a half on may be repeated as you fee Occafion; and what you fo cut away, will help to make your dry Hedges for your young Plantations, or will be ufeful for the Oven, and make good Bavin, efpecially the extravagant Side~ branches which will {pring upright, till the newly-wounded are healed. There are fome who would have no Stakes cut from the Trees, fave here andthere one, fo as to leave half the Head naked, and the other ftanding, but the over-hanging Boughs will kill what is under them and ruin the Tree, fo perniciousis this Half-topping. There is nothing more prejudicial to underStowing young Trees than when newly trimmed and pruned, to have their (as yet raw) Wounds poifon’d with continual dripping. For Stakes in this Work, Ozkis to be pre- ferr’d, tho’ fome will ufe Alder, but it is each Side (more orlef$ at Pleafure) for the Ditches, leaving five in the Middle between them ; then digging up two Feet in the Midft of that five Feet, he planted the Sets in; which although it required more Labour and Charge, he fays, he foon found it repaid the Coft: This done, he beganto dig the Foffes, andto fet up one Row of Turfs on the Outfide of the faid five Feet; namely, one Row on each Side thereof, the green Side outmoft, a little reclining, fo as the Grafs might grow. After this, returning to the Place he began at, he order'd one of the Mento dig Spit of the under Turf-mould, and lay it between the Turfs placed edgwife as before defcrib’d, upon the two Feet which was purpotely dug in the Middle, and prepar’d for the Sets, which the Planrer fets with two Quicks upon the Surface of the Earth almoft_upright, whilft another |