plants will be deprived of their proper nourishment and moisture: in short, it is necessary that the nursery should be kept equally clean as the seminary, and this as clean as the kitchen garden: it would be more pardonable to suffer the plants to be smothered in the seed bed than in the nursery quarters; for, in that case, only a small part of the expence would be thrown away. Nor is merely keeping the weeds under the only care in a nursery: the intervals must be kept stirred, in order to give air and freedom to the fibres. This may be done either with the spade, which is called turning in ; or, if the intervals be wide enough, and the nursery extensive, with the plow, which is attended with less expence.

THE next business of the nursery is PRUNING: this is necessary, to prevent the plants from crouding each other, and to give them stem. Shrubs, which do not require a stem, should not be placed in nursery rows, but in the quincunx manner, that they may have an equal room to spread, on every side; but forest trees, and trees in general, require some length of stem; and, in giving them this, the leading shoot is more particularly to be attended to. If the head be double, one of the shoots must be taken close off: if it be maimed, or other ways defective, it may be well to cut the plant down

to the ground, and train a fresh shoot; or, if the head be taken off smooth, immediately above a strong side shoot, this will sometimes outgrow the crookedness, and, in a few years, become a straight plant.

THE time of the plants remaining in the nursery is determined by a variety of circumstances; and a seasonable THINNING frequently becomes necessary. In this part of the business there are general rules to go by: the shrubby spreading tribes should be thinned whenever their branches begin to interfere; and the stem plants, whenever their roots get into a similar state. If either the tops of the one, or the roots of the other, be suffered to remain in a state of interference and warfare with each other, the beauty of the shrubs will soon be destroyed, and the thriftiness of the trees will be checked. If the plants be wanted for planting out, it is fortunate; if not, every alternate plant should be moved to a vacant ground, prepared for the purpose. If such as stand in rows be removed, alternately, into the intervals, and set in the quincunx form, a temporary relief will be gained, at a small expence.

PLANTERS, in general, are not aware of the caution necessary in TAKING UP plants, for the purpose of planting them out to stand. In this

case, every root and every fibre ought, as much as possible, to be preserved. No violence should, therefore, be used in this operation. The best way is to dig a trench close by the side of the plant to be taken up; and, having undermined the roots, let the plant fall of itself, or with a very little, assistance, into the trench: if any licentious root or roots still have hold, cut them off with some sharp instrument, so as to jar the main root as little as may be. If the root was properly pruned before planting, it will now turn out a globular bundle of earth and fibres, the best characteristic of a well rooted plant.

WHEN the nursery lies at a distance from the plantations, or when the plants are to be sent to some distant place, much depends upon PACKING them up judiciously. Valuable plants may be packed in pots or baskets;-straw may, however, in general be used, and will equally preserve them from frost in winter, and the drought of autumn or spring; especially if, in the latter case, the straw be occasionally moistened with soft water. Large plants should be packed, singly, with as much earth about the roots as conveniency will allow. If a piece of mat be put over the straw, it will save some trouble in cording, and be more effectual than straw alone.

SECTION THE THIRD.

PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS.

ALL that we propose, in this place, is to convey to our readers some general ideas of

PREPARING THE SOIL, AFTER PLANTING,

SEASON OF PLANTING,
PRUNING AND SORT.
ING THE PLANTS,
PLANTING THEM OUT,
ATTENDING THEM

CLEANING THE PLAN

TATION,

PRUNING THE YOUNG

TREES, AND THINNING THEM,

in order to avoid useless repetitions, when we come to speak, separately, of each individual' species; and to enable such of our readers as are wholly unacquainted with the subject, to follow us through the ALPHABET OF PLANTS with a degree of ease and satisfaction to themselves, which, without these previous instructions, they would not be able to do.

THE PREPARATION OF THE GROUND depends, in some measure, upon the size of the plants. To speak generally upon the subject→→ For plants under four feet high, the soil ought

to receive a double digging, or a summer's fallow under the plow, or a crop of turnips well hoed; but, for larger plants, separate holes, dug in the unbroken ground, are frequently made use of; though we cannot, by any means, recommend the practice. Trees and shrubs never thrive better, than when they are planted upon made ground; for here the fibres rove at large, and the nearer the soil of a plantation is brought to the state of made ground; that is to say, the more it is broken, and the deeper it is dug; the greater probability there will be of success. Plants put in holes may thrive very well, while the fibres have loose mold to work in; but, whenever they reach the firm unbroken sides of the pits, they will, except the soil be of a very rich loamy nature indeed, receive a check, which they will not overcome, for many years. The size of the holes, whether in broken or unbroken ground, must be in proportion to the roots of the plants to be put in. For large -nursery plants, the holes, in unbroken ground, should not be less than two feet deep, and for plants from four to eight feet high, the holes ought to be made from two to four feet diameter: the different strata should be kept separate; laying the sod on one side of the hole, the corn mold or soil on another, and the substratum on a third; and in this state they may lie some weeks, before the time of planting.