ing, I shall not enlarge upon either, as every gardener knows that his trees will reward him for whatever pains he may take in the removing of them: but this I shall say, that I always prefer fresh soil to the old that would adhere to the roots; and, notwithstanding that I never yet used a pick, I have always used three-prong forks in preference to spades; and when the tree is well undermined, I cause as much of the earth to be picked out from between the roots as I possibly can, with sharp-pointed sticks, with which, in my opinion, a man is less likely to injure the roots than with a pick, as he can humour his hand to the position of the roots, either on this side or on that, above or below them, which he could not do so nicely with a pick. In this way the trees are nearly, or entirely, freed from the earth which would otherwise adhere to them, the weight of which, in my opinion, only tends to rack and sprain the roots. By this method I have removed large trees, some roots of which I followed 15 ft. from the stem; but this is by no means necessary, although I have planted many that required a pit 10 ft. over. A tree with such roots as this I have planted in ground well prepared, the earth made very fine, or some brought on purpose, carefully filled in amongst the roots and fibres, and fastened with a pot or two of water, which carries with it the small particles of earth and sand, and by that means fills up every cavity, so that, as soon as any fibre makes the least essay it catches hold, and one mouth begets another, and so on, till the whole is in motion. Should it be required to take any off the branches, I always defer it till the following season. I have a great respect for Mr. Gorrie, but I cannot agree with him in cutting any branches off fresh-planted trees, or taking the leaves off cuttings; in fact, I have found cuttings, without a leaf removed, strike much better than those which were stripped. The last three years I have particularly remarked this in striking Eccremocárpus scaber: those cuttings struck best that had a leaf or a pair remaining at the very joint at which they were cut off, and, in fact, formed plants in nearly half the time that those did which had them removed. * This sketch of my manner and ideas of planting, &c., I give you, and, if you think proper, the world, without any thanks to Sir Henry Steuart or Sir Walter Scott, whose paper things on planting I have never once seen. The latter must recollect that gardeners now are very different men from what they were in the days of Andrew Fairservice, and that they can improve their minds

This is proved by every-day experience: every man must be aware that roots make branches, and branches make roots, else how could a cutting strike root, or part of a root form a plant?

by other books than those of worthy Mess John Quackleben's Flower of a sweet Savour, or Doctor Lightfoot, however ponderous his volume might have been. But although I do not return thanks to any of our northern lights, I must thank the many intelligent gardeners I have lived under; and last, but not least, A Discourse on Forest Trees, by John Evelyn, Esq., in my possession, where he tells us about Count Maurice, governor of Brazil, planting a delicious paradise near Friburg, containing 600 cocoa trees of 80 years' growth, and 50 ft. high to the nearest bough. These he wafted on floats and engines four long miles, and planted so luckily that they bore abundantly the very first year. Nor hath this succeeded in the Indies alone; Monsieur de Fait, one of the mareschals of France, hath, with huge oaks, done the like at Fait. He then brings it nearer home: a great person in Devon planted oaks as big as twelve oxen could draw, as he was told by the Right Honourable Lord Fitz-Harding, who hath himself practised the removing of great oaks by a particular address, extremely ingenious, and worthy the communication: he then states what this is :-Choose a tree as big as your thigh, remove the earth from about it, cut through all the collateral roots, till, with a competent strength, you can force it down upon one side, so as to come with your axe at the tap-root, cut that off, re-dress your tree, and so let it stand, covered about with the mould you loosened from it till the next year, or longer if you think good; then take it up at a fit season, it will likely have drawn new tender roots, apt to take, and sufficient for the tree, wheresoever you shall transplant it, &c. &c. Now, where can there be the least doubt that many gardeners in Scotland have read this work, and acted upon it, long ere they heard of Sir Henry Steuart?—at any rate, I know some that did. But, to prove that there are many of these new discoveries which are perfectly old to a number of gardeners, if your correspondent who gives his trees a top-dressing of stones would look into Virgil, Georg. ii., he will there find it described as a thing very commonly done; and if Mr. Billington will look into Evelyn's Sylva, he will see that he recommends rubbing off the buds, or else the very young branches; any thing else makes him shudder, except where they have been neglected. He quotes Lawson, who published in 1597, who says he can form a tree into any shape or form, with a fine clear stem, without any wounds, by following it up from infancy. All this clearly proves to me that these things have all been seen and acted upon before, and gardeners are not ignorant of them at this day but I agree with Quercus that it is not gar

trees; for we often see that it is the gentlemen themselves, for employing such fellows as old coachmen, plough-wrights, and gamekeepers, all of whom I have seen cutting and chopping where they pleased; they not being fit for any thing else, and it was thought any blockhead could superintend that sort of work. I hope all gardeners will join with me in returning thanks to Anon., who (if it is Mr. Sang) is a kind good man, and I am only sorry to say I have not seen him these eight years.

-s, February 15. 1830.

I remain, Sir, &c.

ART. IX. On planting and pruning Forest Trees. By Mr. JOHN HOWDEN, hitherto known as AGRONOME.

Sir,

HAVING been very fond of reading ever since I could read, which is some forty years ago, I have frequently been led to change my opinions on various subjects, and even my theological opinions among the others: yet there is one opinion which I have never changed, namely, I always think it right to read or hear every man's opinion, and then judge for myself; to "prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good." The difference of opinion, in many of your correspondents, respecting the management of forest timber trees, is certainly very striking; I think it must proceed from the different soils, climates, &c., of the local situations of the various writers; and nothing can settle such disputes but practical experience in each operator in his own place. The letters of Mr. Withers must appear very ridiculous to a native of Scotland or Wales, or of the moorlands of England. It is a maxim with some, only to plant such soils as will not pay for cultivation; and a very good maxim it is, provided that every nobleman and gentleman in Great Britain and Ireland would follow it up by another maxim, viz. to plant every acre of their estates that will not pay for cultivation. (See Encyc. of Agr., 3631, 3632, &c.) It is, indeed, a national disgrace to see so many tens of thousands of English acres unplanted, and yet scarcely capable of maintaining two rabbits per acre; the whole of which, if planted with judgment, that is, all resinous trees on the highest grounds, hard-wooded trees on the best ground, and soft-wooded trees on the boggy ground, would afford a handsome remuneration. Trenching such land is not only of no use, but is really hurtful, where there are only a

few inches of poor soil on rock, gravel, or grey sand, as void of nurture as the congealed lava from Mount Etna or Vesuvius; yet even such will grow many of the pine and fir tribes of trees better, in three inches of soil, than if planted in rich loam. As the trees grow, the soil will increase, and be fit for a crop of oaks, &c., by the time that the pines or firs are properly thinned out for timber trees. Suppose an acre of such land is bought for 10l., and planted for 5l., by contract, with larch fir, Scotch pine, birch, and mountain ash, in equal proportions; in the course of 15 years, such trees will every one be from 15 to 30 ft. high; and, if they have been well pruned, they will be still higher and more valuable. To prune a tree well, is to prune it while it is young; say at 6 ft. high, it should be pruned 2 ft. up the stem. This is done in one minute, or less, with a good Sheffield knife (Barns, maker). The trees should be gone over in this manner every two years, say six times, or six minutes for each tree, equal to one farthing! Observe that I speak from experience. By this early pruning, there is no occasion for thinning out any trees till they are fit for something. The Scotch pine are thinned out first for rails, &c.; the best of the larch are left as timber trees; the birch, mountain ash, &c., are cut periodically for craterods, &c. &c.; and oaks, &c., are introduced into all vacant places. I shall not attempt to make a debtor and creditor account of such an acre of land, as the demand and locality of markets make so much difference; but, at the lowest calculation possible, the profit is sufficient to induce every landowner to plant his waste lands with trees of some sort. With respect to pruning, it is a maxim with me to prune young, to prune often, and not prune too much at a time: I once killed a beautiful row of spruce trees by pruning them up too much in one season. We can never do wrong in taking off two crops of branches every second year, while the tree is in full vigour after it begins to be at a stand-still, it should never be touched more; pruning then can do it no good, and may do it much harm.

I have been reading the letter of Mr. Blaikie to the Duke of Bedford, in the Country Times newspaper of Feb. 15. The letter is certainly written much more in the spirit of meekness than the letters of Mr. Withers; nevertheless, he is as much mistaken in the vegetable economy or physiology of forest trees as Mr. Monteith: his method of pruning, yclept foreshortening, is all very well for laurels, hollies, and other ornamental shrubs and trees, but for forest timber it is the very worst of all bad systems. Mr. Blaikie seems to think that the boughs of a tree will grow out and fall off in the same manner VOL. VI.

as the hairs begin to grow out and fall off from my old head; but both he and Mr. Monteith are sadly mistaken in this point. It is well known that every knot and every bough proceeds direct from the centre of the stem; and, whether they are cut off, or not cut off, they would still be knots, and the sooner they are cut off the better. A tree lays on its wood in the same way as a candle is increased by frequent dippings; every season, like every dip, lays on a fresh coat; and the sooner that the wick of a candle, or the stem of a tree, is made smooth, the more free will either be from unsightly protuberances. Every nurseryman knows how to prune a standard apple tree, so as to give it a fine clean stem; and every forester should know how to grow a rail, or a scaffold-pole, a mill-shaft, or mast of a ship: but Mr. Blaikie's system of foreshortening deprives him of even bends or knees for ship timber. The beech trees which he mentions as having been pruned eighty years ago, should have been pruned just a hundred years ago, as I presume they were above twenty years old at the time of pruning; and, if they had been foreshortened, they would have been of still less value. Most carpenters, &c., disapprove of pruning trees, as they say that the finest timber is from the forests abroad, where pruning was never thought of. I grant this is true; but such trees were planted or sown by the hand of Nature, and, perhaps, came up as thick as in a nurseryman's seed-bed; so that their branches were all killed and rotten before they were more than twigs. At length they began to oppress and kill each other, just as the world does: the stronger always oppress the weaker, and such as get the lead are sure to keep it, so as to kill all their little companions; and there they reign, lords of the forest, for perhaps a couple of centuries, when they come to England, fine-grained, free from knots, and every thing that a carpenter can wish for. This is called natural pruning: but in England, where every acre of land and every rail is of some value, pruning well is pruning profitably. Hoping that every forester will make himself well acquainted with the process of making candles, for the purpose of throwing light on the subject of pruning,

I remain, Sir, yours, &c.

AGRONOME.

P. S.-I am particularly pleased with your anonymous correspondent's critique on Sir Henry Steuart's work: it is almost word for word of one I had written some time ago, but never sent; and I believe that all the letters of anonymous writers are like the votes or speeches of a member of parlia