edge of the knife abruptly upwards drawing it along the pith, half an inch, or an inch, according to the size of the layer. The whole stool being treated in this manner, proceed to peg the layers close to the bottom of the trench, bedding the cleft or mouth of each in fine mold, for the fibres to strike into. (If the mold and the season be very dry, it may be well to moisten some fine mold with soft water, making it into a paste, and wrap the wounded part in a handful of this prepared earth.) This done, level in the mold, draw the point of the layer upright, and shorten it, as above directed; being careful to disturb the wounded part as little as possible. It is a practice with some to clear the stools, entirely, after layering: we would rather recommend, however, to trim off such shoots only as are too old, or are defective, leaving such as are too young, to increase in growth; by which means an annual, instead of a biennial, succession of layers will be had.

THE TIME OF LAYERING is generally autumn; spring is favourable to some plants, and midsummer to others; but trees and shrubs, in general, may be layered at almost any season of the year.

THE length of time requisite for ROOTING a layer depends upon the nature of the plant: twelve months is generally considered as a

sufficient time, during which the layers should be kept clear from weeds; and, when the rooted plants are taken off, the stumps, from which, they were severed, should be cut off close to the stools, in order that they may send forth a future supply of shoots.

V. VI. BUDDING-AND GRAFTING are operations more particularly applicable to fruit trees, and belong to the kitchen gardener rather than to the planter. They are operations difficult to describe upon paper; and are known to every nurseryman and gardener. The great art in grafting lies in uniting the graft closely, and firmly, with the stock; and in budding, not to leave too much wood, nor yet to pare it off too close to the eye.

SECTION THE SECOND.

TRAINING TREES AND SHRUBS.

TREES and SHRUBS may be trained up from the seed bed, &c. until they be fit to be planted out to stand, either in NURSERIES set apart for the purpose, or in YOUNG PLANTATIONS; which last are frequently the most eligible nurseries, as

will be explained hereafter. A SEPARATE NURSERY, however, is nevertheless necessary; and in this place it will be proper to give some general ideas of the soil, situation, and business of a nursery ground,

THE SOIL of the nursery, like that of the seminary, should be rich and deep, and like that, also, should be prepared, by double diggings, and suitable meliorations: if not deep and rich by nature, it must be made so by art, or be wholly rejected, as unfit for the purposes of a nursery ground. For, if the roots of the tender plants have not a soil they affect, or a sufficient room to strike in, there will be little hopes of their furnishing themselves with that ample stock of fibres which is necessary to a good plant, and with which to supply them is the principal use of the nursery,

THE SITUATION of the nursery is frequently determined by the soil, and frequently by local conveniences: the nearer it is to the garden of1 seminary, the more attendance will probably be given it; but the nearer it lies to the scene of planting, the less carriage will be requisite. In whatever situation the nursery is placed, it must, like the seminary, be effectually fenced against hares and rabbits.

THE PREPARATION OF THE SOIL has already been mentioned: too much pains cannot be taken, in this department; it is the foundation, upon which the success of the whole business greatly depends,

IN PRUNING seedlings, layers, and suckers, for the nursery, the ramifications of the roots should not be left too long and sprawling ; but, in this case, should be trimmed off pretty close, so as to form a snug globular root. By this means, the new fibres will be formed immediately round the root of the plant, and may, of course, be easily removed with it, and without disturbing the earth interwoven among them. The tops should, in most cases, be trimmed quite close up to the leader, or (if aukward or defective) be cut off a little above the root.

IN PUTTING IN Seedlings, various methods are practised: by the dibble; by the scoop; by a single

chop with the spade, or by two chops, one across the other: by square holes, made by four chops of the spade, bringing up the mold with the last; or by bedding; a method chiefly made use of for quicksets. If the soil be well prepared, and the plants properly pruned, the chief art, in putting them in, lies in not cramping the fibres of the roots; but, on the contrary, in letting them lie free and easy, among the mold: and the particular mode, or instrument to be made use of, depends much upon the size of the plants to be put in. This also determines, in a great measure, the proper distance between the rows and between plant and plant. Strong suckers or layers require larger holes, and a greater distance, than weak seedling plants. The proposed method of cleaning, too, is a guide to the distance: the plow cannot work in so narrow a compass as the spade. The natural tendency of the plant itself must also be considered; so that few general directions can be given, under this head. If we say from six to twenty-four inches in the rows, with intervals from one to four feet wide, we shall comprehend the whole variation of distances.

CLEANING THE NURSERY is a business which must not, of all others, be neglected: all plants are enemies to each other. If grass and weeds are suffered to prey upon the soil, the young