118

A DISCOURSE

an Elm they acknowledge to be raised of seeds, which, being ripe aboutthe beginning of May, though. frequently not till the following mon th,will produce them; as may be seen abundantly in the gardens of theThuilleries, and that of Luxembourg , at Paris, where they usually sowthemselves, and come up very thick; and so do they in many placesof our country, though go seldom taken notice of, as that it is esteemed

should have all their ends bent towards the stool, that the slit may. be. kept open. . Lastly,having fhe whole vacuity filled with its own mould, smooth and even, take oflf the endof each twig that peeps above the ground, down to one eye ; »nd the branch, thus laid,will afford as many plants as there are buds peeping out of the ground. Proceed in likemanner to the other branches of the same stool, then to the next stool in order, andso on until the .whole, busijiefs of layering be finished.

By the autumn following, these layers ..will have taken root, and many of them will havemade a shoot of near a yard in length. It is then necefsary to take them from theirstools, and plant them in some double-dug ground in the nursery. They should be setin rows three feet asunder, and the distance allowed them from each other in the rowsought to be a foot and a half. Here they may stand till they are planted out wherethey are to remain, with no farther trouble than digging the ground between the two rowsevery winter, and, in the same summer, carefully watching those which shoot out twobranches at the head, and nipping the weakest of them off.

After the layers are taken up, the stools must have all the wounded parts, occasionedby the former splashing, taken away; the old branches also should be cut off pretty closeto the stem, and in the spring they will begin to shoot out fresh branches again fora second layering, which will likewise be ready to have the same operation performedthe second year after : And thus may this layering be performed on these stools everyother vear. But nurserymen, who must raise great quantities of trees this way, shouldbe provided with two quarters of stools, to come in alternately, so that from one or otherof them they may annually receive a crop.

Another, and by far the most expeditious method of raising Elms , is by sowing theseeds; but this practice chiefly respects the Wych Elm , the seeds of the others veryrarely ripening in this country. In order, therefore, to obtain a good quantity of theseElms , let the seeds be gathered the beginning of June, it being the time when they are fullripe. When gathered, spread them three or four days to dry; for, if they were to be sownimmediately upon being gathered, they would rot. Having been spread about that time,and the ground, which ought to be fresh and good, being in readinefs for their reception,mark out your beds four feet wide, and let the alleys between them be a foot and an halfor two feet broad. Rake the mould out of the beds until they are about an inch deep ;riddle that which came out of the beds into them again, until the bottom of each bedbe raised half an inch (!. e. half filled) with riddled mould; then gently prefs the moulddown with the back of the spade, and sow the seeds thinly all over it with an even hand,covering them down with fine earth about half an inch deep. When the seeds are allsown this way, the beds should be hooped and covered with mats, to shade the plants