with forty-two thousand Scotch Firs, and two thousand Seedling Oaks and Spanish

Chefnuts. The very wet places are

planted with Aih and Alder, with Willows of different kinds intermixed. The age of the Scotch Firs, at the time of planting, is three years; that is, one year in the feed-bed, and two in transplanted rows. The deciduous are from four to

seven years old. There are also upwards of twenty acres planted, fome years ago, with Scotch and Spruce Firs, Beech, and Spanish Chefnuts. All his Lordship's plantations are well fecured from cattle, and, while young, from hares and rabbits. There will be a great number planted this year; and as his Lordship intends planting every feafon; they will foon be increased to a very large extent. As his Lordship's fuccefs in planting is remarkably great, not having ten out thoufand die : if the Society wishes for any information relating either to raising or planting, or the growth of

of a

the different trees on the various foils on which they are planted, I fhall be willing to communicate to them fuch circumitances as may be required.

I HOPE I shall be readily excufed for not writing to you fooner, when I acquaint you that my only motive was to make fome further obfervations on what I had planted. As I would not willingly impose on any private perfon, fo I would cautiously guard against impofitions on a

Society

Society intended for public good. In my laft letter I gave fome account of the extent of his Lordship's plantations, with the number of plants, and the various forts they were planted with. This year I have almost finished another plantation of about fourteen acres, planted with much the fame kinds as the former. The foil in general is dry, barren, fandy, and heathy, a few acres excepted, which are loamy, and a small quantity is very wet. Spanish Chefnuts, Birch, Scotch Firs, Larches, and Weymouth Pines, thrive exceedingly well on the dry and barren fand; as alfo do the Spruce Firs for a few years, as eighteen or twenty; after this time they begin to die at the top; fo that we have been obliged to cut vaft numbers down before they were of any fize or use, other than for fpars and rails for fencing. On the loamy foil they ftill continue vigorous in their growth, and beautiful in appearance. I think the great fuccefs I have had in planting for his Lordship (and I

believe

believe it will hold good in all other plantations) is the care of the plants in the feed beds and nursery-rows, to keep them clean, and not too close together, to draw one another up. The Scotch Firs I plant out of the feed-bed, at one year old, into beds of four feet wide, and fix or eight inches afunder: in these beds they stand two years, which I find to be the best age to enfure fuccefs; when fmaller, the weeds are apt to injure them when larger, they have very few fibres, and are more hurt by the winds, and longer before they strike out fresh roots, and often are killed by the dry weather before they get hold of the ground. When I take them up,, I fecure as much of the earth about them as will hang; putting them carefully into whatever carriage they are conveyed in, and using the fame care in laying them in their places where they are to be planted, which are holes eighteen inches diameter, putting the best mould about their roots. The

Spruce

Spruce Fir, and the Weymouth Pine, I order in the fame manner; with this difference only, that they will bear to stand longer, two, three, or four years, before they are planted out, and at that age plenty of mould will hang to their roots, which is of effential service to plants in general. I alfo manage the deciduous trees in much the, fame manner. I have planted fome Lombardy Poplars in a poor fandy foil, which do very well, but thrive much better in a moist loam, on which I planted fome about feventeen years ago, and they are now near fixty feet high; but in a very wet ground I cannot get them to grow at all whereas Afh and Alder grow in fuch land amazingly quick. Oaks grow very faft among Birches and Firs, which I call nurfing-plants to them: fome of those I thus planted about ten years ago, are now fixteen feet high. I think they will not make good timber on fo poor a foil, but will produce underwood, if cut down