, OF FOREST-TREES. IB5

it, drenched for a night or more, in new milk: But without half this ch. vm.preparation they need only be put into ; the holes with the point upmost,as you plant Tulips. Pliny will tell you, they come not up, unlefs fouror five be piled together in a hole ; but that is false, if they be good,as you may presume all those to be which pafs the examination, nor willany of them fail; but being come up, 'they thrive best unremoved,

This method should be always practised, that you may be certain of your seeds, whetherthey are of English or foreign growth. Indeed, in some cold damp soils, Chesnut-treesseldom perfect their seeds here; but where they do, our English trees produce very goodseeds for the purpose; though it is generally allowed that those brought from Portugal andSpain are better.

The goodness of the nuts being thus proved, and having a sufficient quantity of groundproperly prepared for the seminary, in 'the month of February let drills, about a footdistance from each other, be made acrofs this ground, about four inches deep, in whichlet the nuts be placed, at about four inches distance, throughout every drill. Some peoplerecommend the eye of the nut to be placed uppermost, but there seems no necefsity forsuch a caution; nature in all cases of sowing, pushes the germ upwards and the rootdownwards; and if we were, by way ef experiment, to turn the germ of a new-sproutedbean downwards and the root upwards, the plant, from a kind of vegetable instinctimprefsed upon it by the Author of Nature, would counteract our intentions, and in a fewdays the germ and root would reasume their former positions.

In the spring, when the young plants appear, they should be kept clear from weeds ;and as often as any weeds present themselves, they must be plucked up during the timethe trees remain in the seminary, which ought to be two years from the time of sowing.

The plants, having stood in the seminary two years, must be carefully taken up, allthe side-shoots taken off, and the tap-root shortened; then, having ground in the nurserydouble-dug, let them be planted in rows, two feet and a half or three feet asunder, andat least one .foot and a half distant in the rows. The best time for doing this workis the latter end of February; for if they are planted in October, the severe frosts willbe subject to throw the young plants out of the ground before winter is over. A year afterthey have been planted in the nursery, it will be very proper to cut every one of themdown to within an inch of the ground; which will cause them to shoot vigorously withone strong and straight stem. Without this treatment, they are very subject to growscraggy and crooked, and to make but slow progrefs; so that where they do not take wellto the ground, and shoot irregularly, they should be cut down according to this direction,;after which they will shoot strongly, and, in a short time, overtake those that have notundergone this operation, though planted some years before them.

In this nursery they may remain four or five years, when they will be fit to plant out,with no other pruning than taking off very strong side-branches, and such as havea tendency to make the tree forked. The only trouble required will be keeping theground clear of weeds, and eVery winter digging between the rows.—After they are■°f a.sufficient size to be planted out for standards, either in fields, clumps, wildernefs

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