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3. Your plants beginning now to peep, should be earthed up, and chcomforted a little, especially after breaking of the greater frosts, andwhen the swelling mould is apt to spue them forth; but when they areabout an inch above ground, you may, in a moist season, draw them up.
is the best time for this work; and when the young plants appear, which will be in aboutsix weeks, they must be constantly covered with mats in the night-time to guard againstthe effects of frost. During the summer they should be kept clear from weeds, andcovered from the extreme heat of the sun while the hot months continue. Whenever anycloudy or rainy weather approaches, the mats should be always taken off, that the plants mayenjoy the benefit of it. By thus carefully nursing the beds, keeping them clear from weeds,watering the plants in dry seasons, covering them from the parching sun, and uncoveringthem again in the night, or when the weather is cloudy or rainy, the plants by autumnwill be got pretty strong; though not so strong as to be left to themselves. The following,winter they will require some care. When the frosts approach, they must be carefullycovered with the mats, as in the spring ; for without this protection many of them wouldbe injured, and the greatest part killed, at least down to the ground. In this bed theymay stand two years, when they will be strong enough to- plant out in the nursery. Theground for this purpose being double dug, the young plants should be set in rows, at twofeet and a half distance, and one foot and a half asunder in the rows. There they mayremain till they are of a sufficient size to plant out for good;
- HORNBEAM. -
In the autumn the seeds are ripe; when, having gathered a sufficient quantity for thepurpose, let them be spread upon a mat a few days to dry. After this, they should besown in the seminary, in beds-four feet wide, with an alley of about two feet, in themanner directed for raising the Ash. In this bed they will remain till the second spring,when they will make their appearance. During the summer of their concealment, theweeds should constantly be plucked up as soon as they peep; for if neglected the fibresof their roots will strike so deep as to occasion many of the seeds to be drawn out on-weeding the ground. After the young plants appear, they should constantly be kept clearof weeds; and if they were now and then gently refreshed with water in dry weather, itwould prove highly serviceable to them. In the spring following they may be taken out.of these beds, and planted in the nursery.
—- MOUNTAIN ASH, OR QUICKEN-TREE. --
Having procured a sufficient quantity of berries, they should be sown, soon after theyare ripe, in the seminary, about half an inch deep, in beds made as before directed : theyfrequently lie till the second spring before they make their appearance. In the spring;following let them be taken from the seed-bed, and planted in the nursery..