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mould from the roots and fibres; but at such distance as it may percolate chinto the earth, and carry its virtue to them, with a shallow excavation,or circular basin, about the stalk; and which may be defended frombeing too suddenly exhausted and drunk up by the sun, and taken away
second spring, in the first open weather in February, rake off very gently the earth asbefore, sift fresh over them, about half an inch thick, and in March and April the youngplants will appear in plenty. During the summer they must be constantly weeded, andin very dry weather, now and then watered; in October weed them again, and siftsome coal-ashes half an inch thick over them; but if the heavy rains in the summer havelaid the roots bare, it will be necefsary to sift a little earth amongst them first. Nopersons, unlefs they have practised this method of sifting earth and ashes over theirseedling plants before winter, can conceive the advantage they receive from it; itstrengthens the stems, prevents mofs from growing amongst them, and secures them frombeing turned out of the ground by the frost. The next spring prepare some beds six feetwide, with a path of two feet betwixt each; plant all of a size in each bed, at one footsquare, first shortening the tap-roots, and also the side ones; in this bed they must remainfor two years, hoeing the ground when any weeds appear, and against winter sprinkling■a few ashes amongst them. After standing at this distance for two years, they will wantremoving; they must then be planted out into your nursery,, in rows three feet asunder,and each plant at one foot distance, where they are to remain till they are wanted forplanting out for good; but observe to keep the weeds constantly down when small, forthen a labourer with a Dutch hoe can clean near half an acre in a day, and your treeswill thrive amazingly by such a practice.
As the Ash keys do not make their appearance till the second spring, some judiciouspersons recommend them to be bedded in dry mould, and treated in the manner of haws.This method has many apparent advantages. In general the keys are sown too thick,which makes the plants come up tall and weak; a practice much to be condemned.
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In the winter let a sufficient quantity of cones be procured, and kept till the spring ofthe year. Just before sowing, let them be opened or torn into four quarters by a knife,the point of which must be.thrust exactly down the centre, so that the seeds in theirrespective places may not be damaged. Formerly, great pains were bestowed in gettingat the seeds, by cutting off the scales of the cones singly, and letting the seeds drop.This occasioned great expence to those who wanted a quantity of seeds; so that it isnow wholly laid aside, for the more easy method of opening them with knives, and thenthreshing them. A certain price is generally allowed per thousand to the poor for openingthem. When a sufficient quantity is opened, they should be threshed in a room, whichivill divide the scales, and dislodge the seeds, without injuring many of them. Threethousand cones will generally produce about a pound of good seed. The cones beingsufficiently broken, and the seeds threshed out, they should be winnowed or sieved, tohave clear seeds; after which they will be ready for sowing in April. Let the seminary
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