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first year cut them within an inch of the surface; this will cause them ch.xviii.to sprout in strong and lusty tufts, fit for copse and spring woods;, or, byreducing them to one stem, render them, in a very few years, fit for theturner.
2. Though Birch be of all other the worst of timber, yet. it has itsVarious uses ; as for the husbandman's ox-yoaks; also for hoops, small
which will happen soon after they begin to open. These should be sown in the seminary,about a quarter of an inch deep; and, after they are come up, should be carefully cleansedfrom weeds for the first summer. The spring following they may be planted out in thenursery: The rows must be two feet and a half asunder, and the plants a foot and a halfdistant in the rows. There they may remain till they are of a sufficient size to be plantedout for good.
Whoever has not the -conveniency of procuring the seeds, may soon raise a greatquantity by layers from very few stools. Having planted some stools for this purpose, andhaving headed them down to the ground, let them remain two years before they arelayered. By this time each branch will have a great quantity of side-shoots, which beingsplashed and laid in the ground, every twig will grow, and make a fine plant, fit to beplanted out in the nursery by the autumn following. These plants should be taken fromthe stools, and planted as the seedlings; and the stools ought to be refreshed with theknife, by taking off the old splashed wood, and preparing them to throw out vigorousfresh shoots for a second operation, which should be repeated every two years.
After the plants are of a size to be set out for goad, they may be planted upon almostany ground with succefs; for the Birch, being a native of Britain , suits itself to all sortsof soils. It will thrive extremely well on barren land, whether it be wet or dry, sandyor stony, marshy or boggy, It sows itself, and will come up in places where hardly anyother tree will grow. To what advantage then, may many parts of this island be plantedwith this tree, particularly such as have the advantage of large rivers, where the woodmay be sent off by water; for where water-carriage may be had, the broom-maker willbe a constant purchafer.
Whenever coppices of the Birch are planted, with a design to be sold to the broom-maker, the plants should be taken out of the nursery, or gathered in the woods, and setfive feet asunder ; and in eight years they will be ready to cut; when an acre, if it hassucceeded well, will be worth about ten pounds. After this, the trees may be cut everysix years, when the acre will be of the same value. If plantations of this tree are intended
for hoops and smaller uses of husbandry, they will support a cutting for these purposesevery twelfth year, and will be worth more than twelve pounds per acre. Thus may suchlands as are not worth a shilling an acre be improved with Birch-trees; an improvementso much the greater, as the nature of the tree will admit of its being raised and plantedout at a very small expence. When the land is good enough to admit of the plough,a, crop of corn is the best preparation for a Birch plantation; but where this cannot be
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