in Agriculture and Gardening, is setting a tree or plant, taken from its proper place, in a new hole or pit; throwing fresh earth over its root, and filling up the hole to the level of the surface of the ground.

The first thing in planting is to prepare the ground before the trees or plants are taken out of the earth, that they may remain out of the ground as short a time as possible; and the next is, to take up the trees or plants, in order to their being transplanted. In taking up the trees, carefully dig away the earth round the roots, so as to come at their several parts to cut them off; for if they are torn out of the ground without care, the roots will be broken and bruised, to the great injury of the trees. When you have taken them up, the next thing is to prepare them for planting by pruning the roots and heads. And first, as to the roots; all the small fibres are to be cut off, as near to the place from whence they are produced as may be, except they are to be replanted immediately after they are taken up. Then prune off all the bruised or broken roots, all such as are irregular and cross each other, and all downright roots, especially in fruit-trees: shorten the larger roots in proportion to the age, the strength, and nature of the tree; observing that the walnut, mulberry, and some other tender-rooted kinds should not be pruned so close as the more hardy sorts of fruit and forest trees; in young fruit-trees, such as pears, apples, plums, peaches, &c., that are one year old from the time of their budding or grafting, the roots may be left only about eight or nine inches long; but in older trees, they must be left of a much greater length; but this is only to be understood of the larger roots; for the small ones must be chiefly cut quite out, or pruned very short. The next thing is the pruning of their heads, which must be differently performed in different trees; and the design of the trees must also be considered. Thus, if they are designed for walls or espaliers, it is best to plant them with the greatest part of their heads, which should remain on till they begin to shoot in the spring, when they must be cut down to five or six eyes, at the same time taking care not to disturb the roots. But if the trees are designed for standards, you should prune off all the small branches close to the place where they are produced, as also the irregular ones which cross each other; and after having displaced these branches, you should also cut off all such parts of branches as have by any accident been broken or wounded; but by no means cut off the main leading shoots which are necessary to attract the sap from the root, and thereby promote the growth of the tree. Having thus prepared the trees for planting, you must now proceed to place them in the earth: but first, if the trees have been long out of the ground, so that the fibres of the roots are dried, place them eight or ten hours in water, before they are planted, with their heads erect, and the roots only immersed therein; which

for that, by long duration, will convert the finest mould into stiff clay. The proprietor of such a soil must therefore grudge no labour to drain it well; and yet by such easy gradation as to prevent the mould from being washed away by great floods, in case the under stratum be a loam. which will swell the dried vessels of the roots, and prepare them to imbibe nourishment from the earth. In planting them, great regard should be had to the nature of the soil; for if that be cold and moist, the trees should be planted very shallow; and if it be a hard rock or gravel, it will be better to raise a hill of earth where each tree is to be planted, than to dig into the rock or gravel, and fill it up with earth, as is too often practised, by which means the trees are planted as it were in a tub, and have but little room to extend their roots. The next thing to be observed is, to place the trees in the hole in such a manner that the roots may be about the same depth in the ground as before they were taken up; then break the earth fine with a spade, and scatter it into the hole, so that it may fall in between every root, that there may be no hollows in the earth; then having filled up the hole, gently tread down the earth with your feet, but do not make it too hard; which is a great fault, especially if the ground be strong or wet. Having thus planted the trees, they should be fastened to stakes driven into the ground to prevent their being displaced by the wind, and some mulch laid upon the surface of the ground about their roots; as to such as are planted against walls, their roots should be placed about five or six inches from the wall, to which their heads should be nailed to prevent their being blown up by the wind. The reasons for planting are various, according to the different sorts of trees, or the soil in which they are planted. For the trees whose leaves fall off in winter, the best time is the beginning of October, provided the soil be dry; but if it be a very wet soil, it is better to defer it till the latter end of February, or the beginning of March; and for many kinds of evergreens, the beginning of April is by far the best season; though they may be safely removed at midsummer, provided they are not to be carried very far; but should always make choice of a cloudy wet season.

In the second volume of the papers, &c. of the Bath Society there is a letter on planting waste grounds. The gentleman who writes it informs us, that in the county of Norfolk, where he resides, there were about 60 or 70 years ago vast tracts of uncultivated ground, which were then thought totally barren. "The western parts of it (says he) abounded with sand of so light a texture, that they were carried about by every wind; and in many places the sands were so loose that no grass could grow upon them. Art and industry, however, have now so altered the face of this once Arabian desert, that it wears a very different appearance. Most of these tracts are either planted or rendered very good corn-land and sheep-walks.

"About 30 years since, the sides of many of our little sand-hills were fown with the seeds of French furze, and when a wet season followed, they succeeded very well, and grew so fast, that once in three or four years they are cut for fuel, and sell at a good price at Thetford, Brandon, Harling, Swaffham, and places adjacent. This excited some public-spirited gentlemen, among whom was the late Mr Buxton of Shadwell-Lodge, near Thetford, to attempt the planting of Scotch and spruce firs, and other hardy forest-trees. At first they found some difficulty from the extreme looseness of the sand. But as there is in all this part of the country fine white and yellow marl, at about three feet depth below the sand, they very judiciously thought that incorporating it with the sand in the holes where their young trees were planted, would insure success; nor were they disappointed. The method succeeded beyond expectation; the plantations throve exceedingly, and the roots soon reached below the sand, after which they were out of danger. This excited them to further attempts.

"On the spots where they intended to raise new plantations from seeds and acorns, they laid on a thick coat of marl and clay, which after being rough spread, and lying a winter in that state, was made fine, and ploughed in just before planting. By these means the soil became fixed, and in a little time covered with grass and herbage; so that there are now vast plantations of firs, oak, and forest-trees, in the most healthy and vigorous state, where within my memory ten acres of land would not maintain a single sheep three months.

"But the benefit of plantations, whether of shrubs, copse, or trees, is not confined to the immediate advantage, or even the future value of the wood. By annually shedding a great number of leaves, which the winds disperse, and the rains wash into the soil, it is considerably improved; and whenever such copses have been stubbed up, the ground (however unfruitful before planting) has thereby been so enriched as to bear excellent crops for many years, without the additional help of manure. How much land-owners are interested in planting waste or barren spots I need not mention; and nothing but a degree of indolence or ignorance unpardonable in this enlightened age could induce them to neglect it.

"Nature has furnished us with plants, trees, and shrubs, adapted to almost every soil and situation; and as the laws of vegetation are now much better understood than formerly, it is a reproach to those whose practice does not keep pace with their knowledge in making the best use of her bounty. Let no man repine and say the land is barren; for those spots which appear to be so, owe that appearance to human negligence. Industry and art might soon render an eighth part of this kingdom nearly as valuable as the rest, which now remains in a state unprofitable to the owners, and disgraceful to the community."

Reverse Planting, a method of planting in which the natural position of the plant or shoot is inverted; the branches being set into the earth, and the root reared into the air. Dr Agricola mentions this monstrous method of planting, which he found to succeed very well in most or all sorts of fruit-trees, timber-trees, &c. Bradley affirms, that he has seen a lime-tree in Holland growing with its first roots in the air, which had thrown out branches in great plenty, at the same time that its first branches produced roots and fed the tree. Mr Fairchild of Hoxton has practised the same with us, and gives the following directions for performing it: Make choice of a young tree of one shoot, of alder, elm, willow, or any other tree that easily takes root by laying; bend the shoot gently down into the earth, and let it remain until it has taken root. Then dig about the first root, and raise it gently out of the ground, till the stem be nearly upright, and stake it up. Then prune the roots, now erected in the air, from the bruises and wounds they received in being dug up; and anoint the pruned parts with a composition of two ounces of turpentine, four ounces of tallow, and four ounces of beeswax, melted together, and applied pretty warm. Afterwards PLA

terwards prune off all the buds or shoots that are upon the stem, and dress the wounds with the same composition, to prevent any collateral shootings, that might spoil the beauty of the stem.