Nor do we mean to hold out pleasure, alone, as an inducement to planting;-its PROFITS are great, when properly executed; and this idea adds solidity to the enjoyment. Pleasure alone may satiate; but profit and pleasure, united, seldom fail of producing a lasting gratification.

THERE is an other incitement to planting, which alone has been generally held out as a sufficient inducement. We are sorry to confess, however, that we know too much of mankind to believe that PATRIOTISM, unaided by personal interest, will ever produce a supply of ship timber to this or any other nation. Far be it from us, however fashionable it may be, to speak irreverently of patriotism; we consider it as the noblest attribute of the human mind. Young men, to whom we more particularly address ourselves, are seldom without some share of it; and we flatter ourselves that this virtuous principle, assisted by the pleasure, the profit, and the POPULARITY which attends planting, will induce the young men of the present age to study and practise it; not more for themselves, than for future generations.

I. PROPAGATING FROM SEED.There are four ways of raising, from seed, the trees and shrubs adapted to our purpose:

Ir will be expected, perhaps, before we begin to treat of the different methods of sowing, that we give some directions for GATHERING and preserving seeds. Little, however, can be said upon the subject under this general head; different species requiring a difference in management. We may, nevertheless, venture to say, that all

seeds ought to be fully matured upon their native plants; and we may further add, that such as drop spontaneously from the seed vessel, or are shed by a moderate wind, or other gentle agitation, are preferable to those which are torn from the tree, immaturely. The seeds of scarce, or valuable plants may be gathered thus: As soon as they begin to fall, voluntarily, spread a cloth under the plant, and agitate it moderately, until all that are ripe have fallen;-and repeat this, whenever a second, and a third, spontaneous fall takes place.

THE art of PRESERVING sceds rests chiefly upon that of curing them, immediately after gathering. If grass were put into the stack, immediately after mowing, or corn threshed out, at harvest, and laid in heaps, it would presently heat, and be rendered useless. So it is with the seeds of trees and shrubs: therefore, they ought, as soon as they are gathered, to be spread thin, in an airy place, and be turned, as often as a close attention sees necessary. When the superfluous moisture has evaporated, they may be collected into bulk; remembering, however, to run them frequently down a skreen, or shake them in a sieve, that their brightness and sweetness may be preserved. Some of the larger seeds, acorns especially, are difficult to cure, and require a very strict attention.-It must also be remembered, that mice and other vermin are dangerous

enemies to seeds. Those which are particularly valuable, may be hung up, in bags, to the ceiling of a dry room.

IN PROCURING SEEDS from the SHOPS, or from ABROAD, Some caution is necessary. A seedsman, who has a character to lose, and a correspondent, who is himself a judge of the quality of seeds, are the best general guards against imposition and disappointment.

THERE are several ways of TRYING THE QUALITY of seeds. The heavier kinds may be proved in water; such as swim are at least doubtful. The lighter sorts may be tried by biting them: if they break abruptly between the teeth, they are generally good; but if they be tough and leathery, they are mostly the contrary. If when crushed, or separated by a knife or scissars, they appear firm, white, and farinaceous, they may generally be esteemed good; but if, on the contrary, they be spungy and discoloured, they are generally of a bad quality. But the most certain mode of trial, and that which in cases of suspicion ought never to be omitted, is to force a few of them, in a garden pot, placed in an artificial heat, or other warm situation. Put in some certain number, taken promiscuously from the parcel, and, from the proportional number that vegetate, a tolerably just idea

may be formed of the quality of the whole. Without this precaution, a season may be lost, and the use of the land, together with the labour, be thrown away.

ALL the natives, and many exotics, may be raised in BEDS OF NATURAL MOLD. The soil should be rich, and sufficiently deep to admit of being trenched, or double dug, two spits deep. If it will not bear one spit and a half, namely about fourteen inches, it is improper for seed beds, and should either be wholly rejected, or (if the substratum is not of too barren and poisonous a nature) be trenched, a spit and a half deep, and the crude mold meliorated, by manure, and repeated diggings. Autumn is the best time to bring up the substratum, letting it lie in rough trenches all winter, to take the frost. In the spring, put on a quantity of dung, in proportion to the poverty of the soil; turning it in, superficially, and mixing it well with the soil to be improved. Repeat this single digging, through the summer, as often as convenient, or as often as the weeds, which never fail to rise, in great abundance, from a substratum exposed to the sun and air, require it. In autumn, turn up the soil from the bottom, and mix the whole well together. The longer the soil and substratum lie in the state of inversion, the better tempered the fresh