NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

SECTION I.

NOTE I. Page 3.

WHOEVER is acquainted with the pursuits and information of the generality of land-owners and country-gentlemen, will be disposed to give full credit to the assertion here made in the text, and also to the following anecdote, which I shall mention, for the amusement of the reader.

In the county of ***, in which as large sums have been laid out in Planting, as in most others, within the last half century, a gentleman, who is curious and intelligent about Woods, and entertains the same opinion of the generality of our Planters as I do, was, some few years since, remarking, in a public company, the almost universal want of science, or even of ordinary knowledge, that prevails on a topic so generally interesting. Not finding many persons agree with him in this sentiment, he offered a bet of Five to One, that no gentleman present should, within three months, name Three persons, landholders in the county, who had executed large Plantations, and were possessed of from £500 to £5000 a-year, and upwards, that were able "to state with precision, the different sorts of soils, to which Twelve of the principal Forest Trees, planted in Britain, were best adapted."

The bet was, on all hands, allowed to be a very "sporting" one, and was immediately taken up. The taker of it next day set to work with his search. Being no Planter himself, though a good agriculturist, he had no acquaintance with the subject in

question: But he naturally enough imagined, that the species of knowledge, which was useless to him, must yet be valuable to others; and that, therefore, a Planter could no more be ignorant of the soils best suited to his Trees, than a Farmer could be, of those adapted to his wheat, or his barley-crops. But, at the end of the three months, he was reluctantly forced to acknowledge, that, in the existing circumstances, the analogy was not a correct one, and, three persons not being to be found of adequate information, he paid his money accordingly. During the course of the investigation, more than twenty Planters aspired to the honours of the competition, all confident, that they could easily gain him his bet. But, when it came to the trial, the result was, that one person only, in the county of ** fulfil the prescribed conditions!

was able to

It has been remarked above, that so little are country gentlemen, or their gardeners, acquainted with either the planting, or the management of Woods, that it is truly "the blind leading the blind," in this important department of rural economy; and I cannot refrain from adding another anecdote, on the subject of soils, of which the facts came within my own knowledge.

A few months since, I was applied to by a friend, to give him some advice respecting his Trees. Wood, he said, grew so badly about his place, that, after the experience of forty years, he was almost discouraged in the cultivation of it. On visiting the spot, I perceived that his representation was but too well founded. As he felt a great partiality to Limes and Sycamores, he had transplanted those two sorts of Trees all over his park, of eight and ten feet high, many years before; and that the work was executed in the best manner, he said, it was impossible to doubt, as it was done under the direction of his own gardener, who had extensive experience, and knowledge of wood. But the gardener and himself both assured me, that the soil and climate were" altogether unfavourable to wood," however either might suit husbandry or green-crops. In proof of which, they turned my attention to the Trees, which, indeed, appeared stunted and unhealthy, with leaves of a yellowish-green colour, and growing about an inch, or little more, in a season.

On examining the soil, the cause of my friend's want of suc

cess was at once apparent. It consisted of rich, but thin Clay, naturally inclining to damp in the substratum, from the retention of moisture. My advice to him was very short: "Grub up your Limes and Sycamores, which you should never have planted; and which, unless by a miracle, could never have grown to timber, in such a soil. Replace them with Oak and Beech, of at least five-and-twenty feet high, and of two and three feet in girth, in order that they may be able to withstand the elements, and, within a few years, you will have thriving wood. But let Oak be the staple, whether of your plantations or your parkwood, with such a soil."

To get advice is one thing, to follow it is another. I know not whether the gardener's opinion or mine prevailed with the good-natured owner. But the probability is, that the place will remain in statu quo, and the badness of both soil and climate be deplored or reprobated, for another generation.

NOTE II. Page 6.

So general is the feeling, among the best-informed classes, respecting the want of intelligence on the important subject of WOOD, that I believe, a proposal for the establishment of an ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY in Scotland, if properly made, would be as ardently gone into, as it would be universally approved. It is quite astonishing to think, that, up to the present time, no such Society should anywhere exist in the United Kingdoms! The importance and the uses of Wood are so great and manifold, and its improvement of such paramount interest to the empire in general, and to individual districts in particular, that there are really few objects, which are calculated to unite so many suffrages in their favour.

In respect to the beneficial results, which the labours of such a Society would produce, they are generally, but very imperfectly hinted at in the text. Perhaps, one of the most remarkable is, the change that would take place, in the character, education, and acquirements of our Nurserymen, by far the most influential agents, in the melioration of our future Woods; because it is upon them that we must depend, for the nature of the

materials. Should such a Society be soon established, I should yet hope to see Nurserymen come forth, as they ought to do, able Botanists, intelligent Agriculturists and Gardeners, Vegetable Physiologists of respectable information, and, in a word, men of general science.

Probably, the truth is, that reformation, if it be begun in earnest, must begin elsewhere. Were the class of persons firstmentioned in this enumeration in the text (namely, "well-informed Landholders"), by any means to rise up, the two others would follow, as a necessary consequence. Let us hear one of the most candid and intelligent Nurserymen in Scotland on the subject. On my observing to him lately, how much it was to be regretted, that there was "no Science" to be found among men of his profession, he replied nearly as follows :—

"Of what use or value, Sir," said he, "would Science be to "us, while nothing of the kind is possessed by our Employers? "As Nurserymen, Seedsmen, or Florists, we are mere dealers "in the articles we sell; in the same way as the shopkeeper is "in Sugar, Snuff, or Haberdashery goods; only with this dif"ference respecting us, that we raise or produce the article we "sell, whereas the other has to buy, or to sell it, after it has "been raised by others. Give gentlemen, who are the most partial to Planting, but cheap plants, and they neither know nor care about the quality!

"No Nurseryman, believe me, Sir (at least in this kingdom), "ever raised his reputation, or extended his business, by the superior quality of his Trees, because that must have implied a "superior price. BOUTCHER, the honestest and most judicious "one we ever had (a man more remarkable for the spirit of fairdealing, than for any knowledge of the world), made an at"tempt, about threescore years since, to improve Scottish Ar“boriculture, and to convince the public of their injudicious "anxiety for low-priced articles in our line. Had his merit "been rewarded with that encouragement, which it so emi"nently deserved, Arboriculture would, indeed, have been improved under such an instructor. His excellent example "would, long erenow, have rendered both science and infor"mation indispensable to our profession.-But what happened? "Poor Boutcher was under-valued by the ignorance of his age.

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